29th october 2014 daily global rice enewsletter by riceplus magazine

Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine

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Todays News Headlines

Drought Sucking Californias $5 Billion Rice Harvest Dry

Rice Exports From India Seen Plunging 30% as Harvest

Contracts

Gambia's Annual Rice Import Bill Stands At U.S.$50 Million

Rice Extends Losses After Drop to Four-Year Low on Ample

Supply

Nagpur Foodgrain Prices Open- October 29

No backtracking on rice exports at EGP 2,000 per tonne

Dont go for paddy in rabi, Telangana Govt tells farmers

Thai rice audit shows 70 pct of stocks deteriorating

Rice audit finds 90% substandard

Most Popular MyPlate Download Prominently Features Rice

U.S.-Grown Rice at Paris Food Show

Tender Invitation of CSQ-Normal USA Rice and Australia Rice

Tender

CCC Announces Prevailing World Market Prices

CME Group/Closing Rough Rice Futures

Thailand Takes Bids on Stockpiled Rice

California drought takes bite out of rice harvest, reducing

wildlife habitat and sushi grains

Sacramento Valley farmers are asked: Help the ducks

Drought costs residents thousands

Natural protein in rice helps keep arsenic out in grains

Greenpeace Says Its GMOs Are Better Than Science's GMOs,

Still Hates Golden Rice

Rwanda: Embrace Technology, Kirehe Rice Farmers Told

Kingdom regaining rice crown

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Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter 29th October, 2014

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News Detail.

Drought Sucking Californias

$5 Billion Rice Harvest Dry October 29, 2014 8:44 AM

(Photo by Max Whittaker/Prime for The

Washington Post via Getty Images)

Related Tags:

Agriculture, California, Drought, Enviro

nment, Farmers, Harvest, Restrictions, Ri

ce, Water

WOODLAND, Calif. (AP) Californias

deepening drought is shrinking its rice

harvest, and thats bad news for farmers,

migratory birds and sushi lovers.The $5

billion industry exports rice to more than

100 countries and specializes in premium

grains used in risotto, paella and sushi.

Nearly all U.S. sushi restaurants use

medium-grain rice grown in the Sacramento

Valley.

The rice

harvest is

just the

latest

victim of

California

s historic

drought, which has sharply reduced crop

production as it enters its fourth year. With

95 percent of the state in severe to

exceptional drought, farmers are leaving

fields unplanted, cattle ranchers are reducing

herds and almond growers are tearing out

orchards.California, the nations second

largest rice-growing state after Arkansas,

usually produces more than five million

pounds of rice and sells about half of it

abroad.

But this year rice farmers only planted

420,000 acres 25 percent less than last

year because of water restrictions,

according to the California Rice

Commission.On a clear October day, farmer

Mike DeWit watched as a giant combine

harvester cut and threshed a field ofrice

plants, discharging the grain into a tractor-

pulled wagon.DeWit, who usually plants

1,000 acres of rice on his family farm in

Woodland, outside Sacramento, said he only

planted 700 acres this year because his water

supply was cut by 30 percent.So he idled

one of his combine harvesters, and hired one

less worker and one less tractor.I think its

the worst as far as the California rice

industry is concerned on record, DeWit

said.

One more dry year, and I think the impacts

on California rice farmers will be

devastating.The reduced plantings also

impact migratory birds and other wildlife

that depend on flooded rice fields as habitat.

Every fall, millions of waterfowl fly south

from Canada and Alaska to spend their

winters in CaliforniasCentral Valley.After

the fall harvest, farmers usually cover their

fields with water to break down the rice

stalks, creating wetlands habitat for millions

of ducks and geese that can feed on

uncollected grains and other plants.It is

environmentally a very nice crop to have in

the system. It mimics the natural system of a

couple hundred years ago, when that area

was wetlands, said Bruce Lindquist, a rice

researcher at the University ofCalifornia,

Davis.



In a typical year, rice farms flood 250,000 to

300,000 acres in winter, but this year as few

as 50,000 acres may be flooded because of

water restrictions, according to the rice

commission.Conservationists are worried

that waterfowl and shorebirds will be at

greater risk for disease as they crowd

together in fewer rice fields and

wetlands.When you have less rice out

there, the impacts are significant for our

environment, our economy, for the farms as

well, said Jim Rice, a rice commission

spokesman.

This year, conservation groups are renting

14,000 acres from rice farmers and

temporarily flooding them, turning the fields

into pop-up wetlands for birds traveling

along the Pacific Flyway.The rice

commission doesnt track prices, but Taro

Arai, who runs eight Japanese restaurants in

the Sacramento area, said he paid 8 percent

more for rice this year and expects to pay

even more next year.Arai, chief dreaming

officer of the Mikuni Restaurant Group, is

concerned about the reduced supply and

rising cost of California sushi rice, but hes

reluctant to buy rice from outside the state.

So hes looking into growing and harvesting

his own rice as he prepares to open more

restaurants in NorthernCalifornia.Sushi rice

makes or breaks sushi for every restaurant in

California or the United States, Arai said.

I hear the rumors theres a cheaper rice, but

you want to eat high-quality

California rice.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All

Rights Reserved. This material may not be

published, broadcast, rewritten or

redistributed.

Rice Exports From India Seen Plunging 30% as Harvest Contracts in Freight News 29/10/2014

Rice shipments from

India, the top supplier

in 2014, will probably

drop as much as 30

percent as drought and

a cyclone this month

curb output.Exports will decline to about 7

million metric tons to 8 million tons from 10

million tons this year, said Samarendu

Mohanty, head of the social sciences

division at the International Rice Research

Institute. Production will drop to a range of

95 million tons to 100 million tons in 2014-

2015 from 106 million tons a year earlier,

Mohanty said.

India will concede its position as the largest

supplier to Thailand in 2015 after weak rains

during the first half of the monsoon reduced

output, according to the Food & Agriculture

Organization. Indias production of food grain sown in the rainy season may drop to

the lowest in five years, Agriculture

Minister Radha Mohan Singh said last

month.Plantings were delayed, then floods came in many parts of the country and after

the floods, the cyclone came, Mohanty said in an interview in Bangkok today.

All these events will reduce production.Seeding of crops from rice to soybeans and lentils were delayed as about

90 percent of the country had below normal

rainfall in June, the India Meteorological

Department says.Half a million hectares

were affected by Cyclone Hudhud, which hit

the east coast this month, Mohanty

said.Weak rains in the first part of the

monsoon will cut milled output to 104



million tons from 106.5 million tons, the

FAO said in a report Oct. 2.

Exports from the South Asian nation will

drop 20 percent to 8 million tons, while

Thailand will ship 10.6 million tons, the

Rome-based agency said.The spread of

Ebola may disrupt Indian shipments to

Africa, Mohanty said. India is the top

supplier to some countries such as Liberia,

Guinea and Sierra Leone, he said.

Source: Bloomberg

Gambia's Annual Rice Import

Bill Stands At U.S.$50 Million

The Gambia "will no longer be importing

rice", after 31 December 2015, as it costs the

nation annually US$50 million, said President

Yahya Jammeh in a recent interview granted

the national TV station GRTS.The Gambia,

which imports rice from mainly India and

Thailand, produces less than 15 per cent of her

own requirements in rice.Gambia's

requirement of new rice is 175,500 metric

tonnes per annum, while local production is

24,895 metric tonnes, according to the

Ministry of Agriculture.

As part of The Gambia's Vision 2016, which

is calling for national food self-sufficiency

starting from 2016, the President has

challenged all Gambians, particularly

agriculture project directors, to redouble their

efforts at ensuring that Gambia produces more

agricultural foodstuffs to end rice importation.

This is in line with his slogan of "Grow what

you eat and eat what you grow".President

Jammeh has also warned all agricultural

directors to desist from "corruption" in

executing agricultural projects.Presently eight

senior agricultural directors, including the

permanent secretary, are undergoing trial at

the high court of The Gambia. They are

charged with economic crimes and corruption

relating to agricultural projects.The President

also reiterated his stance for "zero tolerance in

mismanagement of agricultural projects".

Rice Extends Losses After Drop to Four-Year Low on Ample Supply By Jeff Wilson and Supunnabul

Suwannakij Oct 29, 2014 11:43 AM

GMT+0500

Prices for rice, a staple for half the world,

extended losses after reaching the lowest

since 2010 inChicago as the outlook for a

jump in U.S. production and increased

exports from overseas producers signal

ample supplies.Shipments from Thailand,

vying with India to be the worlds largest

exporter, almost doubled in September, the

government said yesterday.

Myanmar expects output to increase as

much as 15 percent annually as it boosts

yields. U.S. rough-rice production will rise

to a four-year high, the Department of

Agriculture said Oct. 10.Prices have

dropped 20 percent this year, heading for the

biggest loss since 2001 and keeping a lid on

global food costs that the United

Nations said fell for a sixth month in

September.

The Bloomberg Agriculture Index of

seven commodities slid the most last

quarter since 2008 as the USDA projects

combined global output of rice, corn,

soybeans and wheat will advance to a record

this season.Plunging prices are a signal that



we have plenty of rice, Dwight Roberts,

president of Houston-based U.S. Rice

Producers Association, said in interview at a

conference in Bangkok yesterday. Some

markets are buying hand-to-mouth.Rough-

rice for January delivery fell 0.5 percent to

$12.24 for 100 pounds on the Chicago

Board of Trade at 1:50 p.m. Singapore time.

Futures lost by the limit of $1.10 to $11.375

yesterday, the lowest intraday price since

September 2010.Aggregate trading was

more than double the 100-day average for

the day yesterday, according to data

compiled by Bloomberg.An index

(BCOMAG) of 55 food items dropped 2.6

percent month-on-month to 191.5 points, the

lowest since August 2010, the United

Nations Rome-based Food & Agriculture

Organization said in an online report Oct. 9.

Export Demand

U.S. inventories of rice will rise 26 percent

before the 2015 harvest, according to the

USDA. Prices may have to fall further to

make U.S. exports attractive to foreign

buyers, said Dennis DeLaughter, president

of researcher and consultant VantageRM in

Austin, Texas.Iraq, the fifth-biggest

importer, is tendering tomorrow for 90,000

metric tons of milled rice, and U.S. prices

are at least 15 percent above offers

expected from Thailand and Vietnam,

according to DeLaughter.

The U.S. milled-rice price is too high,

and we have a big crop to sell, said

DeLaughter, who has been farming and

trading rice since 1977.Rice prices in

Texas range from $12 to $12.75 for 100

pounds, with mills bidding lower for new

high-yielding hybrids that produce

lower-quality finished product,

DeLaughter said.

U.S. long-grain exports are completely

uncompetitive, according to Jeremy

Zwinger, president and chief executive

officer of The Rice Trader, a Durham,

California-based researcher. This is

because of the problems created by the

lower quality of hybrid varieties, he

said.Prices for 5 percent broken

Thai white rice, an Asian benchmark,

was at $426 a ton on Oct. 22, according

to the Thai Rice Exporters Association.

To contact the reporters on this

story: Jeff Wilson in Chicago

at jwilson29@bloomberg.net;

Supunnabul Suwannakij in Bangkok

at ssuwannakij@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this

story: Millie Munshi

at mmunshi@bloomberg.net Ovais

Subhani

Nagpur Foodgrain Prices

Open- October 29

Wed Oct 29, 2014 4:48pm IST

Nagpur, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Gram prices in

Nagpur Agriculture Produce and Marketing

Committee (APMC) showed weak tendency

on poor demand from local millers amid

high moisture content arrival. Easy

condition in Madhya Pradesh gram prices



and release of stock from stockists also

pulled down prices, according to sources.

* * * *

FOODGRAINS & PULSES

GRAM

* Desi gram raw recovered in open market

on good demand from local traders. Fresh

rise

on NCDEX also boosted sentiment.

TUAR

* Tuar varieties ruled steady in open

market here matching the demand and

supply

position.

* Moong Chamki reported strong in open

market on good seasonal demand from local

traders amid weak supply from producing

regions.

* In Akola, Tuar - 4,600-4,700, Tuar dal -

7,100-7,400, Udid at 7,000-7,200,

Udid Mogar (clean) - 7,800-8,100,

Moong - 6,900-7,300, Moong Mogar

(clean) 8,300-9,000, Gram - 2,600-2,800,

Gram Super best bold - 3,600-3,900

for 100 kg.

* Wheat, rice and other commodities

remained steady in open market

in thin trading activity, according to

sources.

Nagpur foodgrains APMC auction/open-

market prices in rupees for 100 kg

FOODGRAINS Available

prices Previous close

Gram Auction 2,400-2,740

2,400-2,820

Gram Pink Auction n.a.

2,100-2,600

Tuar Auction n.a.

3,950-4,200

Moong Auction n.a.

5,200-5,500

Udid Auction n.a. 4,300-

4,500

Masoor Auction n.a.

2,600-2,800

Gram Super Best Bold 3,850-

4,200 3,850-4,200

Gram Super Best n.a.

Gram Medium Best 3,650-3,750

3,650-3,750

Gram Dal Medium n.a. n.a.

Gram Mill Quality 3,450-3,550

3,450-3,550

Desi gram Raw 2,850-2,900

2,900-2,850

Gram Filter new 3,200-3,600

3,200-3,600

Gram Kabuli 8,500-9,800

8,500-9,800

Gram Pink 7,200-7,400

7,200-7,400

Tuar Fataka Best 7,400-7,600

7,400-7,600

Tuar Fataka Medium 7,150-7,250

7,150-7,250

Tuar Dal Best Phod 7,150-7,250

7,150-7,250

Tuar Dal Medium phod 6,850-

7,050 6,850-7,050

Tuar Gavarani 5,150-5,250

5,150-5,250

Tuar Karnataka 5,500-5,600

5,500-5,600

Tuar Black 8,300-8,600

8,300-8,600

Masoor dal best 6,700-6,800

6,700-6,800

Masoor dal medium 6,500-6,600

6,500-6,600

Masoor n.a. n.a.

Moong Mogar bold 9,500-9,800

9,500-9,800



Moong Mogar Medium best 8,500-

9,000 8,500-9,000

Moong dal super best 8,000-8,400

8,000-8,400

Moong dal Chilka 7,600-7,900

7,600-7,900

Moong Mill quality n.a.

n.a.

Moong Chamki best 7,500-8,800

7,000-8,500

Udid Mogar Super best (100 INR/KG)

8,000-8,500 8,000-8,500

Udid Mogar Medium (100 INR/KG)

7,000-7,500 7,000-7,500

Udid Dal Black (100 INR/KG)

6,300-6,800 6,300-6,800

Batri dal (100 INR/KG) 4,200-4,800

4,200-4,800

Lakhodi dal (100 INR/kg) 2,900-

3,100 2,900-3,100

Watana Dal (100 INR/KG) 3,200-

3,400 3,200-3,400

Watana White (100 INR/KG) 3,250-

3,350 3,250-3,350

Watana Green Best (100 INR/KG)

4,400-5,200 4,400-5,200

Wheat 308 (100 INR/KG) 1,200-

1,500 1,200-1,500

Wheat Mill quality(100 INR/KG)

1,650-1,700 1,650-1,700

Wheat Filter (100 INR/KG) 1,200-

1,400 1,200-1,400

Wheat Lokwan best (100 INR/KG)

2,100-2,350 2,100-2,350

Wheat Lokwan medium (100 INR/KG)

1,800-2,000 1,800-2,000

Lokwan Hath Binar (100 INR/KG) n.a.

n.a.

MP Sharbati Best (100 INR/KG) 2,800-

3,200 2,800-3,200

MP Sharbati Medium (100 INR/KG)

1,950-2,350 1,950-2,350

Wheat 147 (100 INR/KG) 1,200-

1,300 1,200-1,300

Wheat Best (100 INR/KG) 1,500-

1,800 1,500-1,800

Rice BPT new (100 INR/KG) 3,000-

3,500 3,000-3,500

Rice Parmal (100 INR/KG) 1,700-

1,900 1,700-1,900

Rice Swarna new (100 INR/KG)

2,300-2,600 2,300-2,600

Rice HMT new (100 INR/KG)

4,000-4,400 4,000-4,400

Rice HMT Shriram (100 INR/KG)

4,800-5,800 4,800-5,800

Rice Basmati best (100 INR/KG)

10,200-13,300 10,200-13,300

Rice Basmati Medium (100 INR/KG)

7,200-9,800 7,200-9,800

Rice Chinnor (100 INR/KG) 5,200-

5,700 5,200-5,700

Jowar Gavarani (100 INR/KG)

1,300-1,500 1,400-1,600

Jowar CH-5 (100 INR/KG) 1,700-

1,800 1,700-1,800

WEATHER (NAGPUR)

Maximum temp. 31.0 degree Celsius (87.8

degree Fahrenheit), minimum temp.

15.7 degree Celsius (60.2 degree Fahrenheit)

Humidity: Highest - n.a., lowest - n.a.

Rainfall : n.a.

FORECAST: Mainly clear sky. Maximum

and minimum temperature would be around

and 33 and 15 degree Celsius respectively.

Note: n.a.--not available

(For oils, transport costs are excluded from

plant delivery prices, but included in market

prices.)

No backtracking on rice exports

at EGP 2,000 per tonne

Mohamed Adel / October 29, 2014

Expected returns set at $1bn for exporters

and $280m in returns for state due to export

fee



No backtracking on rice exports at EGP

2,000 per tonne.

(AFP Photo)

Minister of

Supply and

Internal

Trade

Khaled

Hanafy told

Daily News

Egypt that

the General Authority for Supply

Commodities will continue receiving rice

supplies from his ministry at EGP 2,000 per

tonne.Keeping the tonne price as it is will

prevent a price increase to over EGP 4 per

kilo of rice, he said.Hanafy added that the

door has been opened to allow rice to be

exported globally, under the condition of a

$280 fee. He said that exporting companies

returns will reach $1bn as a result of

overseas markets selling one tonne of rice

for $1000, with state returns to reach $280m

due to the fee.

He said the ministry launched the

construction of a logistics city covering

3.35m square meters on Monday, of which

half a million is located within the borders

of Damietta Port. The remainder falls under

an untapped industrial area located north-

east of the port with total investment costs of

around EGP 13.1bn.The ministry will

complete the logistics city as well as

commercial and shopping area projects

within two years, the minister went on.

The latter is located in close proximity to the

Suez Canal Axis, which was offered to some

of the worlds largest companies during

President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisis recent visit

to the US.The project was well received by

the companies, Hanafy said, adding that it

will be located on area of 1,000 acres and

with investment costs worth EGP 50bn. It is

expected to create around 500,000 jobs after

the first phase of construction.Hanafy

explained that the new city will include

reproductions of cities and sites from around

the world. The move will attract

international companies to produce and offer

global brands. The details of the project will

be announced soon.

Dont go for paddy in rabi, Telangana Govt tells farmers

KV KURMANATH

Unfavourable weather conditions, scarcity

of power have rendered paddy cultivation

unviable.

HYDERABAD, OCTOBER 29:

The Telangana Government has asked the

farmers to go for crops that require less

water. Farmers were asked to shun paddy

this season, keeping in view the

unfavourable weather conditions.State

Agriculture Minister Pocharam Srinivasa

Reddy and Principal Secretary Poonam

Malakondaiah held a review meeting on

Tuesday with officials to take stock of the

kharif crops and to discuss the rabi plan.

The meeting also discussed the losses

caused by the untimely rains last week and

measures to be taken to help farmers sell

cotton. The unexpected rains in the State

damaged crops and the produce in several

mandals.The State is also in short supply of



power, forcing it to enforce day-long power

cuts in villages. Availability of power during

the rabi could be even more difficult.The

Government has asked the farmers to go for

dry land crops that require less water and, in

turn, demand less power.

Farmers are advised to plan their crops in such a manner that they would go for

harvesting by March 15 when temperatures

begin to rise, an official of the Department of Agriculture said.Paddy is grown in 6.50

lakh hectares in Telangana out of the total

cropped area of 13 lakh hectares in

Telangana. The rest of the area is shared by

maize (1.52 lakh ha), bengal gram (1 lakh

ha), ground nut (1.7 lakh ha).The exact rabi

production figures are not immediately

available as this is going to be the first

season after the State is created. In the

combined State, paddy was grown in an

average 15 lakh ha and produced about 55

lakh ha.

(This article was published on October 29,

2014)

Thai rice audit shows 70 pct of stocks deteriorating Source: Reuters - Wed, 29 Oct 2014 06:47 GMT Author: Reuters * Audit results could speed up stockpile sales

* That could drag on prices, hurt farmers

* Large rural population is key influence on Thai

politics

BANGKOK, Oct 29 (Reuters) - An audit of

Thailand's massive stockpiles of rice has

found about 70 percent is deteriorating and

another fifth is inedible, leaving only one

tenth of standard export quality.The findings

in the state inspection will ramp up pressure

on the generals running Thailand as they

battle to offload grain from around 18

million tonnes in national stocks, likely

pushing them to speed up sales before the

bulk of it rots.

That could drag on global prices, hurting

rice growers in the world's No.2 exporter of

the crop, where the large rural population is

a key influence on politics.Duangporn

Rodphaya, chief of the country's foreign

trade department, said the rice that was

discoloured and of diminished quality would

still be fit for sale and that authorities were

aiming to shift it within three years."The

low-quality rice does not mean that it cannot

be of use," she told reporters on

Tuesday."But it's just of a lower standard

and we have a market to support such rice

already," she said, estimating its weight at

10 million tonnes.

The military government in July launched

the inspection of rice warehouses around the

country to gauge the quality of grain

stockpiled under a scheme run by a

government it ousted in May that paid

farmers way above market rates.Prime

Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said 100,000

tonnes of rice were found to be missing from

the stockpiles and the National Anti-

Corruption Commission would launch a

probe to try to uncover where it had gone

and who was responsible.Prayuth said it was

crucial to shift the remaining stocks quickly

and though 70 percent had diminished in

quality, it could still be sold."Rice in the

stockpiles were kept for a long time, so it's

imperative to accelerate sales to prevent

more deterioration," he told reporters on

Tuesday.Prayuth said about 4-5 percent of

the rice was "downgraded" and therefore

inedible. It would likely be used for ethanol

conversion.

LATEST SETBACK



The audit is the latest setback for a

government grappling with a slowing

economy and under pressure to resolve

Thailand's rice problem, the scale of which

is starting to emerge.Low prices and the end

of the loss-making rice-buying scheme in

February have hurt farmers, many of whom

were staunch supporters of the government

the military overthrew.

Prayuth's government announced a loans

scheme for farmers on Friday, offering zero-

interest credit until Feb. 28 next year in

return for keeping their rice off the market,

with additional incentives for storing it

themselves.The commerce ministry also

revealed preliminary results of its tender for

nearly 208,000 tonnes of rice on Tuesday.

Around 203,000 tonnes of rice was sold for

a total of 1.93 billion baht ($59.44 million)

to 18 bidders, it said.The ministry has held

two other tenders so far this year, in which it

sold a total of about 145,000 tonnes. About

59,600 tonnes was also bought by the

private sector in a direct sale earlier this

month.The sales have generated a combined

2.18 billion baht.

Rice audit finds 90%

substandard

State loss from scheme could rise to B700bn

Published: 29 Oct 2014 at 06.00 |

Viewed: 5,289 | Comments: 8

Newspaper section: Business

Writer: Chatrudee Theparat & Phusadee

Arunmas

The government's rice stocks have been

found to be in a very poor state, with as

much as 90% classified as substandard and the cost to the state could be 580-700

billion baht. The audit has continued in

warehouses nationwide for months, and the

news is almost all bad: substandard stocks

are everywhere, with 20% of the rice

deemed inedible. (File photo)

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-

cha revealed the outcome of a

nationwide rice audit led by

ML Panadda Diskul, permanent secretary

for the Prime Minister's Office, that reported

only 10% of the 18 million tonnes of rice

was of good quality."The report shows 70%

of the rice is tainted with a yellow colour,

while the rest is in bad condition and not

edible and should only be allocated for

ethanol production," said Gen Prayut.

The inspection also found about 100,000

tonnes of rice missing.The government will

submit the report to the National Anti-

Corruption Commission (NACC) and ask

for its permission to sell good-quality grains

in stocks."Rice in the stockpiles was kept for

a long time, so it's imperative to accelerate

disposal to prevent more deterioration," Gen

Prayut said.Asked whether corruption was

involved, he said: "I don't know. It's the duty

of the NACC to find out, while this

government will continue to help

farmers."All parties should hurry to solve

this problem, as the public are keeping an

eye on the issue, Gen Prayut said.

Deputy government spokesman Sansern

Kaewkamnerd said Gen Prayut was worried

about farmers and the agricultural sector

because the economy might not grow as

expected, with the global economy yet to

recover and a bad drought expected next

year.A Commerce Ministry source said the

figure of only 100,000 tonnes of

rice missing from state stocks was quite

insignificant compared with

the 3 million tonnes reported missing in

June 2013 by former deputy finance

permanent secretary Supa Piyajitti, who

chaired a subcommittee overseeing the



accounts of the pledging scheme."That

means there is fraud in the rice pledging

scheme," the source said.

"During the inspection process, it is highly

likely that good-quality rice pledged under

the rice scheme was replaced with old, low-

quality stock."The high amount of

substandard rice in state stocks is unlikely to

stem from poor warehousing."The source

said the loss from the scheme was expected

to be as much as 700 billion baht if the

government failed to dispose of stocks

within five years.

"This problem is immense, and the

incumbent government is in a dilemma, as it

is burdened not only with selling good-

quality rice stocks but also with properly

managing the massive amount of

substandard rice," the source said.The

Commerce Ministry said Tuesday there

were 37 interested bidders for the third

round of the government's rice auction for

270,000 tonnes.The ministry sold 140,000

tonnes in the first two auctions, raising 1.6

billion baht.After halting rice sales to carry

out nationwide inspections, the government

resumed sales of 167,000 tonnes on Aug 7.

Tell

Most Popular MyPlate

Download Prominently

Features Rice

ARLINGTON, VA -- The USA Rice

Federation, an active MyPlate National

Strategic Partner, joined with other food and

health organizations to develop a toolkit to

help shoppers adhere to the U.S. Department

of Agriculture's (USDA) recommended

dietary guidelines, now known as

"MyPlate," and rice is heavily featured

throughout the 44-page document.

The Meeting Your MyPlate Goals on a

Budget toolkit was posted on the USDA's

ChooseMyPlate website in July and with

three million downloads since, is by far the

most popular MyPlate tool available.

"Sixty-two percent of shoppers say it costs

too much to eat healthy food," said Byron

Holmes, chairman of the USA Rice

Nutrition Subcommittee. "This toolkit

reminds shoppers that U.S.-grown rice can

make healthy eating easy and affordable.

"Using MyPlate as a guide, the toolkit offers

many ideas for making healthy, inexpensive

choices and also provides recipes and

cooking tips to make those healthy foods

taste great. The grains section of the toolkit

highlights rice and includes time-saving tips

as well as budget-friendly rice bowl

concepts. "The MyPlate communications

partnership with USDA is a beneficial

relationship for USA Rice because it helps

us promote and extend the positive



messaging of U.S.-grown rice as a part of a

healthy diet and the Dietary Guidelines for

Americans," said Holmes.

Contact: Katie Maher (703) 236-1453

U.S.-Grown Rice at Paris

Food Show

Rice ambassadors at SIAL 2014

PARIS, FRANCE -- The SIAL Paris Food

Show celebrated its 50th anniversary this

year and U.S.-grown rice was on the show

floor amongst 6,000 exhibitors from 100

countries. The Sun Valley Rice Company,

joined InHarvest and Sun West in promoting

U.S. rice to the more than 150,000 show

attendees, and provided excellent

opportunities to meet with existing trade

partners and clients from all around the

world.

"The market in Europe for U.S. medium

grain Calrose remains strong and we had a

very positive experience at the show, with

significant interest in our rice especially

from sushi makers and Asian Fusion Chefs -

a growing and diversifying area" said Jim

Higa, Chief Marketing Officer, Sun Valley

Rice Company who attended the five day

event.

USA Rice's Hartwig Schmidt also attended

the show to meet with the trade and existing

and potential customers."Price remains the

most important factor in the market here,

and while U.S. long grain is becoming

competitive with rice from South American

and European origins, cheap Asian origin

rice continues to undercut us," Schmidt said.

"However, customers were interested in our

anticipated large crop this year and next, and

the stability the Farm Bill is providing U.S.

growers. This could help with long term

prices and increased tonnage heading to the

EU."

Contact: Michael Klein (703) 236-1458

Tender Invitation of CSQ-

Normal USA Rice and

Australia Rice Tender

Tender Invitation No: GF4-103107

Country of Origin: U.S.A.

Rice Type: Medium/Short

Grain Brown Rice

Quantity: 12,000MT

Tender Date: 11/7/2014

Delivery Term: The rice needs to be

delivered to the designated COA warehouse

between March 1st

and April 30th, 2015.

Tender Invitation No: GF4-103106

Country of Origin: Australia

Rice Type: Medium/Short

Grain Brown Rice

Quantity: 11,134MT

Tender Date: 11/7/2014

Delivery Term: The rice needs to be

delivered to the designated COA warehouse

on or before

4/30/15.



CCC Announces Prevailing

World Market Prices

WASHINGTON, DC -- The Department of

Agriculture's Commodity Credit

Corporation today announced the following

prevailing world market prices of milled and

rough rice, adjusted for U.S. milling yields

and location, and the resulting marketing

loan-gain (MLG) and loan deficiency

payment (LDP) rates applicable to the 2014

crop, which became effective today at 7:00

a.m., Eastern Time (ET). Rough rice prices

decreased $0.20 per cwt for both long grain

and medium/short grain.

World Price MLG/LDP

Rate

Milled

Value

($/cwt)

Rough

($/cwt)

Rough

($/cwt)

Long-Grain 17.56 11.14 0.00

Medium-

/Short-

Grain

16.99 11.44 0.00

Brokens 10.59 ---- ----

This week's prevailing world market prices

and MLG/LDP rates are based on the

following U.S. milling yields and the

corresponding loan rates:

U.S. Milling

Yields

Whole/Broken

(lbs/cwt)

Loan

Rate

($/cwt)

Long-Grain 55.83/12.59 6.50

Medium-/Short-

Grain 62.39/7.92 6.50

The next program announcement is

scheduled for November 5.

CME Group/Closing Rough

Rice Futures

CME Group (Preliminary): Closing Rough

Rice Futures for October 29

Month Price Net Change

November

2014 $12.130 + $0.075

January 2015 $12.375 + $0.070

March 2015 $12.645 + $0.070

May 2015 $12.890 + $0.075

July 2015 $13.070 + $0.075

September

2015 $12.435 + $0.075

November

2015 $12.335 UNCH



Thailand Takes Bids on Stockpiled Rice

Government Trying to Chip Away at 18

Million Tons in Storage

By WARANGKANA CHOMCHUEN

BANGKOKThailand offered about

208,000 metric tons of rice for sale Tuesday,

as the Commerce Ministry attempts to

unload huge stockpiles of the grain

accumulated under a previous farm-subsidy

program.

Read more on following website:

http://online.wsj.com/articles/thailand-takes-

bids-on-stockpiled-rice-

1414508732?KEYWORDS=rice&utm_sour

ce=USA+Rice+Daily%2C+October+29%2C

+2014&utm_campaign=Wednesday%2C+O

ctober+23%2C+2013&utm_medium=email

California drought takes bite out of rice harvest, reducing wildlife habitat and sushi grains

In this photo taken Friday, Oct. 10. 2014, a

rice harvester works a field belonging to rice

farmer Mike DeWitt near Davis, Calif.

DeWitt is among the Sacramento Valley

farmers who planted 25 percent less rice

than normal because of water cutbacks,

which is impacting migratory birds, and

other wildlife that depend on flooded rice

fields for habitat. (AP Photo/Rich

Pedroncelli)

Associated PressOct. 29, 2014 | 2:51 a.m.

EDT+ More

By TERENCE CHEA, Associated Press

WOODLAND, Calif. (AP) California's deepening drought is shrinking its rice

harvest, and that's bad news for farmers,

migratory birds and sushi lovers.

The $5 billion industry exports rice to more

than 100 countries and specializes in

premium grains used in risotto, paella and

sushi. Nearly all U.S. sushi restaurants use

medium-grain rice grown in the Sacramento

Valley.

The rice

harvest is just

the latest

victim of

California's

historic

drought,

which has

sharply reduced crop production as it enters

its fourth year. With 95 percent of the state

in "severe" to "exceptional" drought,

farmers are leaving fields unplanted, cattle

ranchers are reducing herds and almond

growers are tearing out orchards.

California, the nation's second largest rice-

growing state after Arkansas, usually



produces more than five million pounds of

rice and sells about half of it abroad.

But this year rice farmers only planted

420,000 acres 25 percent less than last year because of water restrictions, according to the California Rice

Commission.On a clear October day, farmer

Mike DeWit watched as a giant combine

harvester cut and threshed a field of rice

plants, discharging the grain into a tractor-

pulled wagon.

DeWit, who usually plants 1,000 acres of

rice on his family farm in Woodland, outside

Sacramento, said he only planted 700 acres

this year because his water supply was cut

by 30 percent.So he idled one of his

combine harvesters, and hired one less

worker and one less tractor.

"I think it's the worst as far as the California

rice industry is concerned on record," DeWit

said. "One more dry year, and I think the

impacts on California rice farmers will be

devastating."The reduced plantings also

impact migratory birds and other wildlife

that depend on flooded rice fields as habitat.

Every fall, millions of waterfowl fly south

from Canada and Alaska to spend their

winters in California's Central Valley.

After the fall harvest, farmers usually cover

their fields with water to break down the rice

stalks, creating wetlands habitat for millions

of ducks and geese that can feed on

uncollected grains and other plants."It is

environmentally a very nice crop to have in

the system. It mimics the natural system of a

couple hundred years ago, when that area

was wetlands," said Bruce Lindquist, a rice

researcher at the University of California,

Davis.

In a typical year, rice farms flood 250,000 to

300,000 acres in winter, but this year as few

as 50,000 acres may be flooded because of

water restrictions, according to the rice

commission.

Conservationists are worried that waterfowl

and shorebirds will be at greater risk for

disease as they crowd together in fewer rice

fields and wetlands.

"When you have less rice out there, the

impacts are significant for our environment,

our economy, for the farms as well," said

Jim Rice, a rice commission

spokesman.This year, conservation groups

are renting 14,000 acres from rice farmers

and temporarily flooding them, turning the

fields into "pop-up wetlands" for birds

traveling along the Pacific Flyway.

The rice commission doesn't track prices,

but Taro Arai, who runs eight Japanese

restaurants in the Sacramento area, said he

paid 8 percent more for rice this year and

expects to pay even more next year.Arai,

"chief dreaming officer" of the Mikuni

Restaurant Group, is concerned about the

reduced supply and rising cost of California

sushi rice, but he's reluctant to buy rice from

outside the state.

So he's looking into growing and harvesting

his own rice as he prepares to open more

restaurants in Northern California."Sushi

rice makes or breaks sushi for every

restaurant in California or the United

States," Arai said. "I hear the rumors there's

a cheaper rice, but you want to eat high-

quality California rice."

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All

rights reserved. This material may not be

published, broadcast, rewritten or

redistributed.



Sacramento Valley farmers are asked: Help the ducks

BY MATT WEISER

MWEISER@SACBEE.COM

10/28/2014 4:42 PM

Sacramento Valley are being asked to lend a

hand to migrating waterfowl arriving this

winter to a drought-parched

landscape.Valley rice farmers normally

flood about 300,000 acres after harvest to

decompose the leftover rice straw. This

flooded land then becomes vital habitat for

ducks and geese.But the California Rice

Commission estimated earlier this year that

only about 50,000 acres of rice fields would

be flooded due to the drought. As a result,

millions of birds traveling the Pacific

Flyway this winter will find a hard time

finding habitat.

The Natural Resources Conservation

Service, a division of the U.S. Department

of Agriculture, is hoping to improve that

picture by offering farmers an incentive to

flood land. Farmers who have water

available and are willing to flood their land

until at least Feb. 1 will be paid an estimated

$53 per acre, said David Sanden, a

spokesman for the agency.The goal is to

offset some of a farmers costs to provide the water and set aside their land to benefit

waterfowl. The agency hopes to create

10,000 acres of shallow water wetlands in

Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba

counties.

If we didnt do anything, a lot of the fields would be dry and there wouldnt be good habitat for all these birds that are coming, Sanden said. Were not asking people to try and find water that isnt there. But if they do have the water, it does have a lot of

benefits.The deadline to apply for the program is Nov. 7. Farmers interested in

participating should contact their local office

of the Natural Resources Conservation

Service.

Drought costs residents thousands

COLORADO COUNTY Water wells in

southeastern Colorado County and

northwestern Wharton County are going dry,

and residents do not know what to do about

it.Despite recent rains, Colorado and

Wharton Counties are still experiencing

drought conditions. The rainfall that we

have been receiving has not been making it

to the reservoirs in the hill country, said

Colorado County Groundwater

Conservation District Manager Jim Brasher.

As such, surface water allotments that are

normally available for irrigation have not

been released by the Lower Colorado River

Authority, and rice farmers have been

increasingly applying for and receiving

permits to drill wells for water to irrigate

their crops.Since 2012, sixteen irrigation

wells have been drilled in southeastern

Colorado County. Each of these wells

pumps at a rate of approximately 22 gallons

per minute, and the average household in the

United States uses approximately 223

gallons per day.

Affected residents

In the summer of 2012, Heyln Hobbs Farris,

who lives on the eastern ban of Eagle Lake,

noticed that her well water was turning

orange and cloudy. Then, her sprinkler



started putting out far less pressure than

before. As the summer began to turn into

autumn, the problems stopped.In the

summer of 2013, the same problems began

again. This time, she lost all water pressure.

She called Neuendorff Water Well Service

in Columbus, and company replaced the

motor on her pump and moved it from sixty-

three feet below ground to one hundred and

fifty feet below ground. Farris said this

service cost her approximately two thousand

dollars.I have lived in Eagle Lake since

1955 and in the county for the past sixty-two

years, Farris said. I never heard of

problems like this until the past few

years.Farris said people told her that they

believed that she would never have a water

shortage problem because she lived so close

to Eagle Lake.

She has stopped running her sprinkler

system this year, because the lake is not

receiving fresh water.Martin and Louis

Herman are a retired couple who live on the

northwest side of FM 2764 near East Benard

and Lissie. FM 2764 is called County Line

Road because the highway divides Colorado

County from Wharton County.On June 15,

Martin Herman started lots of air and some

sand coming in with the water to the house.

When the Hermans had their well inspected,

they learned that it was ruined. The pump

had overheated and broken down, and the

heat from the pump had completely

deformed the well casing.

The cost for the Hermans to drill and install

a completely new well was approximately

nine thousand dollars.The unusual thing

about this was that the well was almost new,

and the water level in the well in January of

2014 was within operable levels at forty-

nine feet below the ground. It was drilled in

2000 to a depth of 300 feet with a water

depth level of forty-one feet below

ground.The average residential well depth

on the southeastern side of the county is 105

to 150 feet below ground.

The Hermans know of one livestock well

and two residential wells on neighbors

properties that no longer reliably pump

water.According to Brasher, within a four-

mile radius of Lissie in Wharton County,

thirty wells have either been producing far

less water than normal or stopped producing

water altogether.Additionally, two other

residential wells and four livestock wells

have been reported to the Colorado County

Groundwater Conservation District as

inoperable.

Unregistered wells

Colorado Groundwater Conservation

District rules state that well operators in

Colorado County are supposed to register

their wells. According to Brasher, there are

two wells in southeastern Colorado County

that have been reported to the district as

having gone dry, but they are not registered

with the district.Though the District does

not currently penalize domestic or livestock

wells that are not registered, these wells are



unprotected from offset well pumpage,

Brasher said.

This District does require that all irrigation

wells be registered and permitted with the

District. Permitted wells have limitations on

the amount that they can pump. Almost all

domestic and livestock wells are exempt

from requiring a permit and therefore have

no regulations on how much they can pump.

We are rigorous about requiring that

irrigation wells be permitted and will

penalize those operators who do not register

their wells.However, the question remains

of whether there are any wells in Colorado

County that have not been reported to the

district.

Water levels

The amount of water being pumped out of

the Gulf Coast Aquifer in a 29.5 square mile

area around Eagle Lake has increased

incrementally since 2012.According to

Brasher, water levels in the aquifer dropped

of six to seven feet from 2011 to 2014 in this

area. In 2011, the drop during irrigation

season was about 22 ft. That amount has

increased each of the subsequent years.

In 2014, the aquifer dropped 38 feet during

irrigation season, Brasher said.During

irrigation season, the water level drops

substantially during the summer and starts to

recover rise after pumping stops in the

autumn.The groundwater conservation

district would like to see an average draw

down of water levels to only twelve feet. To

accomplish that, Brasher said, the average

amount of water withdrawn per year would

need to close to 49,000 feet on average.

Two-county problem

Because the wells most affected are near the

Wharton County line, the Colorado County

and the Coastal Bend Groundwater

Conservation Districts have authorized a

combined study that is currently being

conducted by Intera Geosciences and

Engineering Solutions.The Coastal Bend

Groundwater Conservation District serves

Wharton County.Intera is mapping areas of

groundwater depletion in both counties in an

effort to make a recommendation about what

optimal well and pump depth settings should

be.

Currently, the amount of groundwater being

pumped in the Coastal Bend district is

approximately four times the amount being

pumped in the Colorado County district.

Irrigation well permits are still being issued

in Wharton County, and rice farmers are still

applying for permits in Colorado County.

Possible solutions

Three possible methods to deal with the

groundwater depletion issue exist.First

Ronald Gertson, a rice farmer from Wharton

County is in the process of trying to set up a

non-profit organization that could provide

funds to assist individuals in Wharton

County who lose pressure in their wells to



move their pumps down further or to drill

new wells.

Second, the Colorado County and Coastal

Bend districts can consider declaring a

Critical Groundwater Depletion Zone in

which the permitted amount that can be

pumped by each irrigation well operator

could be curtailed.The Coastal Bend district

is currently drafting provisions that would

allow the district to put such restrictions in

place.

The Colorado County district currently has

such provisions in place, but will not use

them unless the Coastal Bend district

implements similar provisions.Finally, rice

farmers can consider investing in equipment

and infrastructure that would allow them to

raise less water intensive crops, such as

sesame seeds. However, this is an expensive

process, and there are currently no progams

in place to assist farmers with such a

transition.

Natural protein in rice helps keep

arsenic out in grains

[HANOI]

Researchers

have

discovered a

natural

mechanism in

rice plants

that restricts the transfer of arsenic in soils to

the rice grain by sequestering it in pocket-

like cell membranes called vacuoles,

opening scientific potentials for rice-

producing nations across the developing

world.The study, published in the

Proceedings of the National Academy of

Sciences (PNAS) on 20 October, found that

a transporter protein called OsABCC1 lives

in the roots, leaves and other organs of a rice

plant. Removing it caused the amount of

arsenic in the grains of a rice plant to rise

more than fivefold.

The study marks the first time any

transporter has been identified in the process

of vacuolar sequestration of arsenic toxin in

rice plants.Its quite a neat piece of work,

Steve McGrath, an arsenic expert at

Rothamsted Research in Britain, tells

SciDev.Net about the research study.Its a

first step and one particular strategy to

decrease arsenic in grain, he notes. There

may be other transporters throughout the

plant that can do things and be switched off

or turned down, or whatever mechanism you

can think of to achieve similar results.

In the 1990s, there was a flurry of interest in

arsenic contamination of groundwater, but it

was not until last year, McGrath says, that

scientists had fairly clear evidence of how

arsenic concentration in food affected

human health.People who are repeatedly

exposed to arsenic in soils and water are at

risk for a range of diseases, including

cancer, the study reported. The problem is

particularly serious in South Asia and

around the Mekong area of South-East Asia

where groundwater containing high

concentrations of arsenic is used both for

drinking water and irrigating rice.



Rice accumulates more arsenic in its shoots

and grains than wheat, barley and other

cereal crops. That could be because rice

grows in flooded conditions where arsenic

can proliferate, and because rice plants have

a more efficient uptake system for the

poison.This is a serious problem because

rice is a staple food for Asian countries,

adds Jian Feng Ma, a researcher at Japans

Okayama University and one of the studys

authors.

Jian tells SciDev.Net that the study could

have two main applications: breeding rice in

a way that would over express the

OsABCC1 transporter, or identifying and

promoting wild rice varieties in which it is

especially active.McGrath, however, says

the first approach would be unusual because

scientists typically modify the genetic

structures of plants to make them more

resistant to pests, not to make them healthier

for human consumption.

Its a test, if you like, of the publics and

legislators opinion about genetic

engineering in plants, he says. Is this more

acceptable because its having a direct

health benefit?

Link to full paper in Proceedings of the

National Academy of Sciences

This article has been produced by

SciDev.Net's South-East Asia & Pacific

desk.

Image credit: GMB Akash / Panos

Greenpeace Says Its GMOs

Are Better Than Science's

GMOs, Still Hates Golden

Rice

By Jon Entine | October 29th 2014 03:11

PM |

Greenpeace is set to launch a series of

attacks against crop biotechnology this

week. It has scheduled a news conference

for Friday titled Ecological Agriculture, A

Climate Resilient Model of Agriculture: The

Way Forward, which purportedly

makes its case against vitamin-enhanced

Golden Rice.

According to the Greenpeace news release,

the panel of speakers will address what it

calls Ecological Agriculture, which

Greenpeace says is a model of farming

better adapted to deal with climate change.

Dr. Janet Cotter, a Greenpeace geologist,

will lead a parade of speakers including

activist groups from the Philippines and

Thailand and a farmers testimonial

experience and opposition to GMOs.The

anti-GMO advocacy groups claims that

GMOs have been an expensive failure,

citing among other examples vitamin-

enhanced Golden Rice, which has been slow

to develop and gain approvalin part

because of protests by Greenpeace and other

campaigning groups.

Greenpeace has upped its offensive against

Golden Rice this year, claiming it is a

Trojan horse to soften the public opposition

to GMOs that Greenpeace itself has helped

create.Those promoting Golden rice in

the UK and elsewhere appear to be doing so



more as means of promoting the wider GM

agendaand attacking opponents of the GM

project than as serious means of solving

problems in the global south,

Greenpeace wrote on its website this

summer.

And they entirely miss what are for us the

main issues in the debate. First, problems of

malnutrition are best addressed in their

totality, not by a relentless focus on a single

nutrient out of the hundreds essential for

good health.

Golden rice is far from being a sustainable

solution to vitamin deficiency it

encourages a diet based solely on rice. In

Greenpeaces opinion, the tens of millions of

dollars invested in the development and

promotion of GM Golden rice would have

been better spent in supporting solutions

that work.

Ecologically farmed home and community

gardens can contribute to healthy and

varied diets by directly empowering people

to produce their own nutritious food. This is

the real long-lasting solution Vitamin A

Deficeincy VAD) affected communities need.

Oddly, Greenpeace is also expected to

announce its support for a version of

genetic modification that it claims is

uniquely different from crop genetic

engineering.Whilst the debate between GM

and non-GM has used up most of the

political oxygen, this report shows it is not

the onlyor indeed, the bestshow in town.

There is a growing range of non-GM

biotechnologies which show how a growing

world population can be fed at a time when

natural environments are increasingly

stressed, Greenpeace chief scientist Dr

Doug Parr toldthe Guardian in anticipation

of the Friday press conference.Some

scientists called the claims by Greenpeace

bizarre and hypocritical. There is not

much different between MAS and GE, they

say.

What they are talking about is essentially

the suite of technologies that spearhead the

green revolution, which eco groups such as

Greenpeace have steadfastly rubbished for

decades. Now they see it as agricultures

saviour, said Johnjoe McFadden, professor

of molecular genetics at the University of

Surrey.If GM is not up to much then why

has it been so successful that crops such as

soya are now nearly all GM worldwide.

Who knows best how to grow their own

crop farmers or Greenpeace?

Greenpeace has been running a

disinformation campaign against Golden

Rice and GMOs for years. In 2012, the

Asian arm of Greenpeace issued an alarming

press release headlined: 24 children used as

guinea pigs in genetically engineered

Golden Rice trial.Big business hustling

in of one the worlds most sacred things: our

food supply, Greenpeace warned in the

release.

The Philippines, it said, was the next

target.So-called Golden Ricethe

genetically modified, vitamin A-enhanced



version of white ricehas been in

development for more than a decade. It is a

dramatic improvement over the worlds

most popular staple. In 1999, Swiss and

German scientists used open source

technology to develop Golden Rice, the first

major genetically enhanced food in the new

generation of bio-engineered grains, fruits,

and vegetables that consumers actually eat

directly.

The new rice variety was produced by

splicing two genes (one from the daffodil,

which gives the rice its golden color, and

one from a bacterium that helps the process

along) into white rice so it produces beta-

carotene, which the body can convert to

Vitamin A. Newer varieties have been

tweaked to add iron, and to help the body

more readily absorb the iron already in

white rice.

According to the United Nations, more than

half the world is vitamin deficient. White

rice represents 72 percent of the diet for the

people of Bangladesh and nearly as much in

Laos and Indonesia; more than 40 percent in

the Philippines, Madagascar and Sierra

Leone; around 40 percent in Guyana and

Suriname. Although white rice is a filling

food and can be grown in abundance, it has

a major drawback: it lacks Vitamin.

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) weakens the

immune system, increasing the risk of

infections such as measles and malaria.

Severe deficiencies can lead to corneal

ulcers or blindness. It especially targets

children and pregnant women. The World

Health Organization notes there are more

than 100 million VAD children around the

world. Some 250,000 to 500,000 of these

children become blind every year, with 50

percent of them dying.

In Asia and Africa, nearly 600,000 vitamin

A-deficient women die from childbirth-

related causes.The Bill and Melinda Gates

Foundation has taken a lead role in

collaboration with the International Rice

Research Institute in the Philippines, to

bring Golden Rice to market. Helen Keller

International, a leading global health

organization that reduces blindness and

prevents malnutrition worldwide, joined the

Golden Rice project to further develop and

evaluate Golden Rice

Greenpeace and like-minded groups

argue that tinkering with the genome of food

or crops will unleash a genetic Godzilla that

threatens the future of mankind. This is not

hyperbole. They claim that Trojan-horse

genes not subject to checks and balances in

nature could be released into the

environment causing untold havoc, and

could physically harm children.Food

insecurity is brought about by lack of

enough land, by decreasing rice production

and decreasing incomes, said one Golden

Rice opponent.

Only through a genuine land reform which

ensures farmers access to sufficient rice and

other food sources will farmers start to

become healthy again.Greenpeace is

campaigning vigorously to block Golden

Rice trials throughout Southeast Asia,



instead promoting vitamin pills, organic

gardening and political empowerment rather

than readily available foodwhich of

course does little for children going to bed

hungry and malnourished each night.

*****Jon Entine, executive director of

the Genetic Literacy Project, is a Senior

Fellow at the World Food Center, Institute

for Food and Agricultural Literacy,

University of California-Davis.

Follow @JonEntine on Twitter. Genetic

Literacy Project is a non-partisan, non-profit

organization that explores the intersection of

DNA research, media and policy to

disentangle science from ideology and this

article was originally published there. Read

the original article here.Jon Entine is the

founding director of the Genetic Literacy

Project. He is a senior fellow at the World

Food Center at the University of

California...

Rwanda: Embrace

Technology, Kirehe Rice

Farmers Told

By Stephen Rwembeho

There is need to increase rice production to

not only ensure food security, but also

broaden the country's tax base, the Minister

for Agriculture Geraldine Mukeshimana, has

said.The minister said this while on a tour of

Kirehe District on Monday, where she

interacted with hundreds of rice farmers in

the area.Mukeshimana said though rice

production in the country had increased

substantially, there is still room for

improvement, especially by increasing the

yield per hectare."To meet the increasing

demand, millers should work closely with

farmers as part of increasing the value chain.

The millers should undertake extension

activities so that productivity and

consumption increase at the same pace," she

said.She said to add value to the rice output,

millers needed to invest in modern

machinery and urged them to create

synergies through joint enterprises.The

minister also visited various rice milling

plants in the district.Relevant government

agencies were tasked to work in an

integrated manner for management of the

entire rice production system.According to

the minister, in order to ensure sustainable

rice management, the improvement of rice

varieties must be handled in line with

market demand, she said.

Josephine Mukandaramutse, one of the

farmers, said the government should provide

financial assistance to millers to help

modernise their units to increase production

and quality of their produce.Government

policies make or break rice trade, says

expert

BANGKOK, Thailand - National trade

policies must adapt to changes in the global

rice market for a healthy rice supply chain

thats anchored on market-driven rice

prices.This was proposed by Suthad

Setboonsarng, economist and member of the

board of Banpu PLC, one of the largest

companies in Thailand, during the Global

Rice Market and Trade Summit held at the

Thai capital on 28-29 October 2014.



The summit is a part of the 4th International

Rice Congress, the world's largest gathering

of rice science and industry held every four

years. Dr. Setboonsarng is also a former

member of IRRI Board of

Trustees.Dr. Setboonsarng talked about

ongoing changes in national and regional

dynamics and how these are affecting

rice trade. Areas of change include

population growth, shifting demographics

caused by the rise of the middle class in

Asia, effects of climate change and water

scarcity that force rice production to

converge in particular areas, and

government rice policies.

All these, he said, puts to task national

strategies in ensuring steady production and

stable prices.He also said that liberalizing

rice trade policies is the way forward for

government to deal with the changing global

market. Dr. Setboonsarng, who was

speaking about medium-term implications of

the dynamics of the international rice market

on rice exporters, added that rice, considered

a political commodity, must be managed

under liberal trade policies to allow

efficiency.Providing a national context to

the summit was Ludovico Jarina, deputy

administrator of the Philippine National

Food Authority.

He talked about how important rice is to the

Philippines, a country of 100 million.

Eighty-four percent of Filipinos eat rice,

which takes up 45% of household income.

This, he said, has made the average

household vulnerable to changes in rice

prices.Mr. Jarina said that despite growth in

production, the Philippines remains an

importer due to its geography and

population. "Importation is not government

policy, but is resorted to when there is

projected shortage," he said.

He mentioned that, over a three-year period,

about 1.6 million hectares of rice area were

affected by various calamities, leading to an

average production loss of almost 600,000

tons per year.The country is implementing

the Food Staples Sufficiency Program, a

suite of projects aimed at increasing rice

production and making Filipino farmers

more competitive.

Kingdom regaining rice

crown

Erich Parpart

Petchanet Pratruangkrai

The Nation October 29, 2014 1:00 am

But effects of pledging scheme holding back

full export potential, summit hears

Thailand is set to regain its crown as the

world's No-1 rice exporter, but the

consequences of the populist pledging

policy of the previous government are still

hampering the recovery of the sector, the

country's leading exporter of parboiled rice

told a major international conference

yesterday.

Vichai Sriprasert, president of Riceland

International, cited a shortage of dock

workers and relatively high export prices -

due to too many millers competing for

supply from farmers - as problems holding

back the industry's return to its full export

potential.

Speaking at the three-day "Global Rice

Market and Trade Summit", arranged by the

International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)

in Bangkok, he said the rice-pledging

scheme had left the country with 18 million

tonnes of stockpiled rice, which must either

be exported or consumed domestically

before it turned rotten. However, the current



shortage of stevedores, resulting from a

lower volume of rice exports when the

costly scheme was still in effect, has

contributed to recent port delays, he told

delegates.

Vichai expects the Kingdom to ship around

10 million-12 million tonnes of rice this

year, which would make it the world's

biggest exporter of the grain once again, but

overseas shipments could be even higher -

but for the shortage of dock workers.Last

month alone, shipments of around 500,000

tonnes were delayed, mainly due to this

factor, he added.

"Thai rice is selling like crazy since we

regained our price competitiveness, but we

cannot deliver to [meet] demand because of

the sins committed by the previous

government in the past two to three years,"

he said.

"We have exported 30-40 per cent less than

what we can, due to the rice-pledging

scheme, and this has led to a shortage of

stevedores, many of whom previously fled

the industry due to a lack of jobs - and this

problem has resulted in a bottleneck for the

export of rice at the moment," he said.

Meanwhile, Vichai said the price of Thai

rice, which was now cheaper than that of

Vietnam, was still higher than what it should

be due to millers increasingly competing for

supply.

This has been caused by the same populist

policy, as more millers entered the market

during the period when the "disastrous"

subsidy scheme was implemented, he

explained.

He said the number of millers had increased

over the past two to three years as they had

been able to profit from and take advantage

of the corruption that surrounded the "price-

distortion scheme", and now there were

three times more millers than needed for the

overall supply of rice.

In other news, Samarendu Mohanty, head of

the Social Sciences Division at the IRRI,

told the summit that cyclone Hudhud had

damaged around 500,000 hectares of rice

fields in India and that this, along with other

effects from drought and flood problems in

the previous growing season, had lowered

the country's rice production to about 100

million tonnes this year. India is also likely

to export less next year, due to the expected

increase in competition from Thailand, he

added.

India produced 106

million tonnes of rice

last year, and

normally exports

around 10 million

tonnes per year.

While the export amount is expected to be in

this region this year, it could fall to around

7-8 million tonnes in 2015, since Thailand is

going to find a way to offload its 18 million

tonnes of overstock, said Mohanty.

Meanwhile, the effect of the Ebola epidemic

in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone will

have damaged India's rice exports more than

Thailand's, since India supplies 70 per cent

of the 900,000 tonnes imported annually by

the three countries,

The Commerce Ministry's third auction for

207,000 tonnes of rice attracted many

traders offering good prices, encouraging the

ministry to continue with the fourth bidding

next month.

29th october 2014 daily global rice enewsletter by riceplus magazine

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