Today Rice News Headlines:

S. Korean gov't sets import rice tariff rate at 513 pct

I ndia's rice output, exports to climb on revival of monsoon
Adelaide researchers find rice may help in battle of bulge
Dont give up on rice, researchers say
Meet a scientist: David Gealy
Rice Field Day
S. Korea seeks to use mandatory rice imports on foreign aid
California Drought: Water a Concern as Rice Harvest Begins
Cambodia misses out on rice bid
Commerce Ministry to keep rice price from falling below 8,500
baht per ton
I ndia initiates work to link Northeast with Bangladesh port
Top rice exporter I ndia importing over 100,000 T on temporary
supply squeeze
Ghanaian Rice Farmers Offered Fresh $75m Finance
September 18, 2014 Busayo AgriBusiness
Basmati exports to fall as I ran raises import duty to 45%
Rice, Corn Harvests in India Seen Declining on Weak
Monsoon Rain
Arkansas Rice I ndustry Donates Almost 2 Million Servings to
Feed Hungry
Mississippi Cooks Up a National Rice Month Celebration
Congress Passes Continuing Resolution Funding Bill
Rice industry donates to Arkansas Rice Depot
Festival this weekend highlights regions rice history
New panel to look at rice prices [Bangkok Post, Thailand

Contact & Visit
www.ricepluss.com
mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
7
th
Floor,Suite 11 Central Plaza New Garden Town Lahore-54600
Landline :92 3584 5551
For Advertisement Specs & Rates:
Contact: mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com 92 321 3692874


Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter
19
th
September, 2014
News Detail
S. Korean gov't sets import rice
tariff rate at 513 pct
(Globalpost/GlobalPost)
By Byun Duk-kun
SEJONG, Sept. 18 (Yonhap) -- The South
Korean government said Thursday it will set the
country's tariff rate on rice imports at 513
percent, which it said will be more than enough
to protect the country's rice industry by making
imports more expensive than locally produced
grain.The move comes as the country is set to
liberalize its rice market from next year.The
proposed tariff rate will be notified to the World
Trade Organization (WTO), the Ministry of
Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said.The
rate, once confirmed by the WTO, will go into
effect on Jan. 1, although the WTO process
could take months to verify whether South
Korea's proposed rate is appropriate, according
to the ministry.
"The tariff rate must undergo a verification
process by WTO member countries, and thus the
government will thoroughly prepare for the
WTO verification based on its logic and data," it
said.Still, the move to liberalize the country's
rice market through tariffication faces strong
opposition from farmers who claim that the
proposed tariff rate will not make imports
expensive enough.A government-ruling party
policy coordination meeting to discuss the rice
import tariff rate earlier Thursday was briefly
suspended as angry farmers tried to occupy the
meeting venue, throwing eggs and red pepper
powder.
Agriculture Minister Lee Dong-phil said the
country neither could afford to further postpone
market opening nor has any reason to do so,
especially while the country's rice consumption
continues to drop."Over the past 20 years, our
rice industry has been improving its
competitiveness in terms of productivity and
quality through continuous modernization and
mechanization of its production process," he told
a press conference.
South Korea has been allowed to delay its rice
market opening under a 1993 agreement with the
WTO in exchange for gradually increasing its
mandatory import quota, which reached 408,700
tons this year.Lee said the country will have to
continue importing the mandatory quota even
after next year's market opening, at a preferential
5 percent tariff rate.The 513 percent tariff on
non-mandatory imports will effectively prevent
an overflow of cheap foreign rice into the local
market, the minister said, calling it "the highest
possible level under WTO convention in
agriculture.
"Japan opened its rice market through
tariffication in 1999, but it only imported an
average 350 tons of rice under high tariffs from
2000 to 2013, according to the ministry.Taiwan,
which also liberalized its rice market in 2003,
imports only about 500 tons of rice per year, in
addition to 144,720 tons in mandatory import
quota.Deputy Agriculture Minister Lee Joon-
won explained that Japan imposes a specific tax
of 139 yen ($0.13) per one kilogram of rice
imports, which, at the time of its market
liberalization in 1999 was equivalent to an ad
valorem duty of 1,066 percent, nearly double the
513 percent that South Korea is proposing.
An ad valorem duty is a tax based on the value
of an article and therefore varies due to changes
in the price.In addition to the high tariff rate, the
government announced a set of measures aimed
at protecting the country's rice market, including
banning retailers from mixing domestic and
imported rice.All rice imports will be subject to
a review to verify their reported price, a move
aimed at exposing false prices that would lower
their market price, the ministry said.The
government also reaffirmed its pledge to exclude
rice from market liberalization under any future
trade agreements."As it is also important to
maintain the country's rice import tariff rate, the
government plans to continue excluding rice
from the list of products to be liberalized under
any free trade agreements the country seeks to
take part in in the future," it said.
India's rice output, exports to
climb on revival of monsoon
BY RAJENDRA JADHAV AND MAYANK
BHARDWAJ
MUMBAI/NEW DELHI Thu Sep 18, 2014 11:54am IST
(Reuters) - India's summer-sown rice output is
likely to cross the previous year's level due to
a pick up in monsoon rains, raising prospects
for higher overseas sales in 2015 by the
world's biggest exporter of the grain, trade
officials said.Robust exports from India could
keep a lid on global prices that have surged 12
percent in the past three months and help cut
bulging government stockpiles built as a result
of bumper harvests over the past several years.
"There were concerns over production due to
poor rainfall in June. The pick-up in rains
from mid-July changed the situation. Now, the
crop is in good shape," said B.V. Krishna Rao,
managing director of Pattabhi Agro Foods Pvt
Ltd, a leading exporter.In June, monsoon rains
were 43 percent lower than the 50-year
average, raising concerns about output of the
rice crop that guzzles a lot of water. But rains
picked up in the past few weeks, narrowing
the rainfall deficit to 11 percent."Overall rice
production will definitely be higher than last
year but it is a little early to quantify by how
much," said Rajen Sundareshan, executive
director of the All India Rice Exporters
Association.Indian farmers do the bulk of the
rice planting in the rainy months of June and
July, with harvests from October.
The summer-sown variety accounts for the
bulk of India's total rice output.Farmers
harvested a record 106.54 million tonnes of
rice in the 2013/14 crop year, including an
output of 91.69 million tonnes from the
summer-sown crop.Buoyed by attractive
prices in the export market, farmers have
planted more areas with aromatic basmati rice,
as it needs less water and is more sturdy, said
Rajeev Setia, executive director of Chaman
Lal Setia Exports Ltd.
India and Pakistan exclusively grow the
premium long-grain, aromatic basmati in the
foothills of the Himalayas. Increasingly
farmers are growing it in the northern plains.
The superior variety carries a premium over
non-basmati, or common grades of rice.
Basmati rice accounts for a tenth of India's
total rice production.
India toppled Thailand two years ago to
become the world's top rice exporter as a
government intervention scheme priced
Thai rice out of the export market and as Delhi
lifted a four-year ban on non-
basmati rice sales in 2011 to trim stocks.But
Indian exports slowed down from April as
local prices hardened amid a cut in export
rates by Thailand to trim its inventory. A
bumper Indian harvest will moderate prices
and make its grain competitive in the world
market, exporter Rao said.
CHINESE APPETITE
Indian rice exporters are lobbying the
government to persuade China to import non-
basmati rice from India during the three-day
visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping this
week.China is the world's biggest producer of
the grain, but rising demand is forcing it to
ramp up imports from Asian countries such as
Vietnam, Thailand and Pakistan."China has
signed protocols with other rice exporters like
Vietnam and Pakistan. During Chinese
president's visit we could sign the protocol
with China," Rao said.India had already
signed a protocol with China for basmati rice
export in 2006.Traders believe India can
export more than 1 million tonnes of non-
basmati rice to China. "It has freight
advantages over Pakistan," said an exporter,
who did not wish to be identified.
(Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)


Adelaide researchers find rice
may help in battle of bulge
Dont give up on rice,
researchers say
RESEARCHERS at Adelaide University are
encouraging Aussies not to give up on rice and
say they should look to brown and black
varieties for potential weight loss benefits.Dr
Zumin Shi from the University of Adelaides
School of Medicine said while rice in recent
years has fallen out of popularity thanks to
peoples penchant for low-carbohydrate, high-
protein diets it can actually aid in weight
regulation.Its often perceived that starchy
foods such as rice are associated with weight
gain.
However, its really the quality of the
carbohydrate that makes the difference, Dr Shi
said.There is growing evidence that whole
grains are beneficial in terms of body weight
regulation.Large studies conducted over the last
10-15 years have shown that a high rice intake is
associated with weight control and an overall
reduced risk of high blood pressure and
abnormal blood fats.However, he cautioned this
view needs to be considered alongside other
studies that show rice intake may increase blood
sugar and the risk of diabetes.Dr Shi said
because rice is often cooked in water, it contains
a lower energy density than a staple diet based
on wheat and that unrefined options such as
brown or black rice really up the nutritional
boost.

Its clear from the available evidence that
substituting rice for flour will offer health
benefits, even more so if brown or black
(unrefined) rice is consumed rather than white
(refined) rice, he said.But, the co-author of
Wheat and Rice in Disease Prevention and
Health added that portion sizes still need to be
taken into account to glean potential weight
regulation and nutritional benefits.Portion sizes
of meals are always important eating large
amounts of rice with every meal is not
recommended.
People should also be aware that if they eat rice
with other starchy foods such as bread and
potatoes, they will not gain the dietary benefits
theyre looking for, Dr Shi said.He also said the
glycaemic index (GI) of rice can be altered to
provide further potential dietary benefits.If you
cook rice, then cool it in the fridge, the
glycaemic index in the cooled rice will be
reduced by the time you eat it the next day. So
this can be a way to help counter the increased
blood glucose associated with rice, he
said.Originally published as Grain power
why rice may help in battle of bulge
Meet a scientist: David
Gealy

Editor's Note: This is the seventh in a
series introducing the scientists of the
Dale Bumpers National Rice Research
Center


By Dawn Teer
dteer@stuttgartdailyleader.com
Posted Sep. 18, 2014 @ 5:44 pm

Meet David Gealy, research plant physiologist:

Describe what you study and what you do at
DBNRRC.

I study the physiology, genetics and agronomic
characteristics of economically devastating
weeds, such as red rice and barnyardgrass that
infest rice fields in the southern U.S. I am
interested in how the weeds interact with the rice
crop, and how best to minimize their negative
impacts on the crop and the environment.
How did you get involved in this line of
work?
Originally, I became interested in weeds control
after spending lots of hot summer days helping
my father, brothers, and grandfather pull red-
root pigweeds out of large summer-fallow fields
on our wheat farm. I thought that there must be a
better way to get rid of these weeds; besides Id
much rather have been swimming!
Did you always love science? What was your
fascination with it that made you want to do the
type of work you do?
I always was
interested in
understanding how
the world worked,
so I asked lots of
questions of family
members and
teachers, and
studied in school.
Sure enough, it
mostly made sense,
and I found that science offered a great platform
from which to gain insights into answering real-
life questions and solving problems.
In addition to family influences, I think that I
became especially interested in science while
taking a chemistry class from an inspiring
teacher in high school. Later, I decided that
weed science could be a pretty good way to
combine my interests in agriculture (always a
farm boy at heart) and chemistry, and I was
particularly interested in understanding the
chemistry and physiology of how some
herbicides could easily kill the unwanted weeds,
but not harm the crop plants.
What brought you to DBNRRC?
In 1993 USDA-ARS transferred me to Arkansas
from Pullman, Washington where I had
previously conducted similar weed physiology
research on wild oats, jointed goatgrass and
downy brome (cheatgrass) in wheat/legume
cropping systems. As you can imagine summers
are a bit hotter here in Stuttgart than in Pullman!
What project are you working on now?
We are trying to understand how much
unwanted outcrossing occurs between herbicide-
resistant rice (i.e. commercial Clearfield types)
and the weed red rice and how best to minimize
it. Although herbicide-resistant rice varieties
have greatly helped farmers to control red rice,
occasionally, the red rice picks up the resistance
trait from the crop through outcrossing. We use
DNA marker methods to measure the amount of
outcrossing between rice and red rice that has
occurred in farm fields, and which red rice
biotypes and rice varieties likely were involved.
This is a crucial first step to dealing with this
problem.
In our most recent field tests, we are attempting
to understand how this rice-red rice outcrossing
problem might be affected by using an
alternative reduced-irrigation system
(intermittent flooding and drying) in comparison
to the traditional permanently-flooded systems.
We are also using a specialized gas analyzer to
help us understand how the photosynthesis,
water use and leaf temperatures of rice and weed
plants may differ between these irrigation
systems, which is very exciting. We hope to
have some exciting results within the next few
years.

Rice Field Day
Lunch for the 300 people who attended the
Rice Field Day last Wednesday included tri-
tip, sushi, salad, bread and two varieties of
rice. Visitors from Kumia and Kutoku,
Japan enjoyed the tours on Hamilton Road
and Richvale Highway locations. Three new
varieties of rice have been added at the
experiment station.


Rice Field Day is held every year at the Rice
Experiment Station in Biggs with hundreds
of growers gathered to hear the latest
research efforts that are key to maintaining
Californias reputation as a world-class rice
producer.Tours are given at the Rice
Experiment Station and Hamilton Road
following a business meeting of the
California Cooperative Rice Research
Foundation (CCRRF).
During this time Kent McKenzie, Ph.D. of
CCRRF Rice Experiment Station gave the
Directors Nomination committee report
followed by Bert Manuel who presented the
California Rice Industry Award.Each year a
Rice Industry Award is given to a person
who has contributed to this industry. This
years winner is Ed Meyer, a grower from
Butte County. His first rice crop was
harvested in 1951. Ed was joined by his
wife Lillian, son Kurt and his wife Patti, son
Walt and his wife Jan and their
grandchildren.Field tours at the Main area
included information on rice variety
development and new insecticides for rice
IPM.
Hamilton Road tours heard about Rice Weed
Control, herbicide programs, new chemicals
and weed management.Lunch consisted of
tri-tip, sushi, salad, bread and two varieties
of rice.The over 300 people who attended
included rice farmers primarily but also seed
growers, representatives of Kumia and
Kutoku, Japan, Case, Helena Chemical, Mid
Valley Chemical, FMC, Simplot and Cal
Poly.Valley Truck and Tractor and Sweco
had some of the latest harvesting machines
on display.For more information on the Rice
Experiment Station see www.crrf.org where
a video depicts the past 102 years of it's
existence.

S. Korea seeks to use
mandatory rice imports on
foreign aid
2014/09/19 10:46
SEJONG, Sept. 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea
plans to use part of its mandatory rice
imports as aid to other countries, possibly
including North Korea, the government said
Friday.South Korea is set to liberalize its
rice market through tariffication starting
next year, which requires revisions to its
agreement with the World Trade
Organization (WTO) that prohibits rice
imported under quota, known as minimum
market access (MMA), from being used as
aid to a third country.
South Korea already struggles to find use for
its MMA imports, which accounts for nearly
10 percent of its overall rice consumption, as
the poor quality of the imports have long
failed to attract local consumers despite their
significantly lower price than that of locally
produced grains.North Korea, on the other
hand, depends heavily on international
handouts to feed its population of 24
million.The Ministry of Agriculture, Food
and Rural Affairs said Thursday it will
submit its own revisions to the South Korea-
WTO agreement before the end of this
month as it launches negotiations on the
country's tariff rates for rice imports.Even
after the market opening, South Korea is
required to import at least 408,700 tons of
rice under the MMA.
The WTO agreement bars the use of the
MMA imports as part of food aid to a third
country as MMA, by definition, seeks to
promote foreign products in an importing
country.Agriculture Minister Lee Dong-phil
said the country's obligation to consume all
MMA rice imports locally will be removed
following its market opening next year."The
government will first review the country's
obligations under the agreement with the
WTO as the rice market opening means the
country is returning to WTO principles," he
told a press conference Thursday.South
Korea provided 2.5 million tons of rice to
the North between 2000 and 2007. The
country's humanitarian assistance to the
North has since been nearly suspended after
a series of provocations from the communist
state, which included the North's second and
third nuclear tests in 2009 and 2013.
bdk@yna.co.kr
California Drought: Water a
Concern as Rice Harvest
Begins


Last Updated: Friday, 19 September 2014
04:23
Last Updated: Friday, 19 September 2014
04:23


September 18, 2014 - By Ching Lee - As
rice harvest ramps up in the state, farmers
agree their crop benefited from this year's
good growing season, but impacts of the
drought linger, with concerns that there
won't be water available to decompose rice
straw left in fields, a critical wildlife habitat
during the winter for millions of birds.
Sutter County grower Greg Van Dyke
started harvest nearly two weeks ago on a
short-grain variety that is one of the earliest
to mature and expects to begin harvesting
medium-grain Calrose, the predominant
variety in the state, in another week.

He said while the growing season "went
fine," limited water allocation from the
South Sutter Water District presented some
challenges, including the need to reduce 25
percent of his acreage and having to upgrade
two pumps on his wells, which has increased
his production costs.Some 140,000 acres of
rice went unplanted this year due to water
shortfalls, according to the California Rice
Commission. That's a 25 percent decrease
from last year's crop.Van Dyke said because
he planted fewer acres this year, he also
hired 15 percent less seasonal labor and
didn't buy as much fertilizer, herbicide, fuel
and other inputs."It just trickles down
throughout the entire economy," he
added.To reduce demand on water and
thereby lower his cost, Van Dyke said he did
more dry-seeding this year.
While the cultural practice is not widely
used in the state, he said it cut his water use
by 15 percent to 20 percent an acre without
sacrificing yield. Because dry-seeded fields
are not under water early on, there's less
aquatic weed growth, reducing herbicide
cost.Glenn County grower Larry Maben said
his planting was delayed because the
Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District didn't
deliver water to growers until May, but the
rice caught up "fairly well" and he expects
to start harvest the first week of October. He
said his wells got him through the season
and he was able to plant all his normal
acreage.
But he said his irrigation district has
informed growers there won't be any water
for rice-straw decomposition, and without
the ability to burn the straw, farmers will
need to find other ways to remove it."The
only thing we can do is try to incorporate it
and just hope there's enough moisture in the
soil to break it down," he said, noting he will
probably need to pump some water to wet
his fields after harvest if there is not enough
rainfall to properly decompose the straw.
"But if we don't get some rain this winter,
it's going to be a moot point, because we're
not going to be raising any rice next year.
"Luis Espino, a rice farm advisor for the
University of California Cooperative
Extension, said decent winter rains will help
with decomposition, if fields become well
soaked and the straw is worked into the soil.
But if the straw doesn't completely
decompose by spring, growers will have to
do more field work before they can plant.
Too much organic matter in the field will
produce gasses that can hurt the rice, he
added.
Yuba County grower Paul Baggett said if
there is not enough winter water for rice-
straw decomposition, some growers may
end up baling it, which he did on 300 acres
last year and then sold it to a company that
used it for erosion control. But he said he
doesn't know how viable the option is if
there's no demand for the straw, as baling
can be costly.
Espino said some straw may be baled for
cattle feed, but to do that, it has to be baled
immediately following harvest when the
straw is still moist. Baling has its
drawbacks, as farmers won't be putting back
nutrients such as nitrogen, potassium and
phosphorous from the straw into the soil,
and that means they may need to use more
fertilizer in the spring, he said.Another
concern with having a lack of water for
winter flooding is the loss of winter habitat
for waterfowl and other birds that use rice
fields for food and as a resting place, said
Paul Buttner, environmental affairs manager
for the California Rice Commission.
Normally, about 80 percent of the state's rice
straw is decomposed in the field, or some
425,000 acres, and of that, 250,000 to
300,000 acres are winter flooded. But this
year, winter-flooded fields could be as low
as 50,000 acres, Buttner said."These acres
are critically important, because there's only
a couple of thousand acres of wetlands in the
Central Valley and those numbers will be
down, so there's a huge concern over the
amount of food available for these wintering
birds, as well as concerns over disease if
they're too concentrated in the small habitat
that is available to them," he said.Not all
growers will have access to groundwater for
the purpose of rice-straw decomposition
because there is a limited number of wells in
the Sacramento Valley region, Buttner
added.

The cost to pump water also is generally
significantly more expensive than using
surface water unless the farm can generate
extra revenue, such as by having a duck-
hunting operation, he noted.Butte County
grower Rocky Donati, who buys water from
the Richvale Irrigation District, said he
fallowed 25 percent of his acreage in order
to sell water to farmers in other parts of the
state who are in more-dire need of it.But
Ralph Cassady, another Butte County
grower who also had the option to
participate in the water transfer, said he
decided to plant all his ground, in part
because of the promising market
outlook.Baggett said he is optimistic about
the market because he thinks the reduced
plantings this year will drive a higher price
for rice, although higher yields could offset
some of the unplanted acreage.Southern
rice-growing states also have planted more
medium-grain rice this year in reaction to
the shorter California crop. While that rice
cannot compete with the Golden State on
quality, Baggett said, "it still does fill some
markets that we will be unable to fill."
(Ching Lee is an assistant editor of Ag Alert.
She may be contacted at clee@cfbf.com.)
Reprinted with permission: California Farm
Bureau Federation
Cambodia misses out
on rice bid

Fri, 19 September 2014

Eddie Morton

Cambodia has missed out on the Philippine
governments latest rice import tender for not
being able to meet the delivery date.The
Philippines National Food Authority (NFA)
declared the results of its 500,000-tonne offer on
Monday.Under the government-to-government
agreement, the NFA has granted Thailand a
300,000-tonne import deal and Vietnam the
remaining 200,000 tonnes, both at a rate of $475
per tonne.

David Van, executive director of rice-exporting
firm Boost Riche Cambodia, was not surprised
at the result and said further expertise in large-
scale international commodity trades was needed
before the Kingdom could cater to such an
order.Vessel chartering is a tricky business as
any wrong calculation in loading or discharging
rates for any given type of vessel ... could ruin
all your margins and even bankrupt a company
if the vessel is stuck at the discharge port longer
than anticipated, he said.
Contact author: Eddie Morton

Commerce Ministry to keep
rice price from falling below
8,500 baht per ton
Thursday, 18 September 2014By NNT
BANGKOK, 18 September 2014 The Ministry
of Commerce has agreed to meet with rice
growers' representatives every two weeks to
ensure stability of rice price is achieved and to
address the demands of rice growers. Commerce
Minister Chatchai Sarikanlaya yesterday met
with representatives from five rice growers'
organizations to discuss measures to aid rice
growers, the appropriate price of rice and the
marketing of rice. It was agreed at the meeting
that the government would work to keep the rice
price from falling below 8,500 baht per ton.
Measures to ensure this price level would vary
according to circumstances. For the long run,
cost of producing rice would be reduced and
improvement made to the yield per rai of
paddy.The representatives of rice growers and
Commerce Ministry officials will meet every
two weeks to follow up on these drives, with the
first meeting set to take place next week, said
the Commerce Minister.The Ministry of
Commerce is also looking to implement the
same model to oversee issues of other crops.
India initiates work to link
Northeast with Bangladesh
port
By Indo-Asian News Service @indiacom | September
19, 2014 5:37 PM | comment
Tags: Agartala, Andhra Pradesh, bangladesh, Chief
Minister Manik Sarkar, Guwahat

Agartala, Sep 19 : India has taken the first steps
to construct a Rs.70 crore ($11.5 million) bridge
over the Feni river in Tripura to access
Bangladeshi ports for transporting goods and
heavy machinery from
other parts of the
country to the
landlocked and
mountainous northeast
and to boost trade and tourism, officials said.The
Tripura government has asked a New Delhi-based
private company to prepare the detailed project
report (DPR). We expect that the DPR would be
ready by December this year and the actual work
to construct the bridge would start after that,
Tripura Public Works Department engineer-in-
chief Sunil Bhowmik told IANS.
Once the 150-metre reinforced cement
concrete (RCC) bridge is constructed,
Indias mountainous northeastern states
would be able to access Chittagong
international port and other ports
inBangladesh to ferry heavy equipment,
foodgrain and other essentials from various
parts of the country and abroad. The
Bangladesh government has already agreed
to allow India to use Chittagong port, about
75 km from Tripuras southern border town
of Sabroom.India is already using Ashuganj
port on the river Meghna in eastern
Bangladesh, which is around 40 km from
Tripura, for transhipments. The Indian
government has spent several millions of
rupees to develop the port and its related
infrastructure.
The Tripura government would be
spending Rs 60 lakh on preparing the DPR.
Tripuras industry and commerce
department is the nodal department to build
the bridge, Bhowmik said. The site,
alignment and other technical details were
finalised after a series of joint visits by
officials of the Indian and Bangladeshi
governments, he added.Officials of the
industry and commerce department said the
Indian government would provide funds
from the Assistance to States for Developing
Export Infrastructure and Allied Activities
(ASIDE) scheme to construct the bridge at
par with international standards. The Indian
and Bangladesh governments agreed to
construct the bridge after Tripura Chief
Minister Manik Sarkar urged both New
Delhi and Dhaka to do so to resolve the
decades-old problem of transporting goods
from different parts of India and abroad to
the northeastern states.
This transportation via Bangladesh is much
easier as surface connectivity is a key factor
for the northeastern region, which is
surrounded by Bangladesh, Myanmar,
Bhutan and China. There is only a narrow
land corridor to the northeastern states from
India through Assam and West Bengal but
this route passes through hilly terrain with
steep gradients and multiple hairpin
bends.For instance, Agartala via Guwahati is
1,650 km from Kolkata and 2,637 km from
New Delhi, while the distance between
Agartala and Kolkata via Bangladesh is just
about 350 km.
The proposed bridge over the river Feni
would not only be easier to ferry goods and
heavy machinery to the region, it would also
greatly boost the trade between Bangladesh
and northeastern states, Tripura industry
and commerce department special secretary
Pravin L. Agrawal told IANS.Bangladesh
has long ago announced it would provide
India access to all its ports. Bangladesh
would also benefit if its ports are used by
India, he added. Agrawal said that tourism
of the two countries would also be boosted
once easier connectivity was established
between them. Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya
and Mizoram have undertaken to develop
various tourism-related amenities and
infrastructure along their bordering areas.
The four states share a 1,880-km border with
Bangladesh.On an average, the distance
between important cities of Bangladesh and
northeastern India is 5 km to 50 km.
Meanwhile, the Northeast Frontier Railway
(NFR) has started preliminary work to
extend its network up to the Bangladeshi
border town and railway station of
Akhaurah, just six km from the Agartala
railway station.In a first, a 5,000 tonne
consignment of rice, of a total of 10,000
tonnes, carried in small ships from Kakinada
port in Andhra Pradesh reached Ashuganj
port in eastern Bangladesh via Kolkata Aug
5. From Ashuganj, Bangladeshi trucks
carried the rice to Food Corporation of India
warehouses in Nandannagar near Agartala.
In 2012, Bangladesh had allowed Indias
state-owned Oil and Natural Gas
Corporation (ONGC) to ferry heavy
machinery, turbines and cargo through
Ashuganj for the 726 MW Palatana mega
power project in southern Tripura
Top rice exporter India importing
over 100,000 T on temporary
supply squeeze
BY MAYANK BHARDWAJ
NEW DELHI Fri Sep 19, 2014 3:21pm IST
A labourer speaks on a mobile phone while
lying on sacks filled with rice at the
Agricultural Produce Market Committee
(APMC) market yard, on the outskirts of
Ahmedabad July 29, 2014.
(Reuters) - India, the world's top rice exporter,
is preparing to import the grain for the first
time in nearly a quarter of a century to feed its
remote and hilly northeastern region where
rail freight is being disrupted due to a track
overhaul.The country will import more than
100,000 tonnes of rice from neighbouring
Myanmar over the next several months, likely
spread out across 10,000-30,000 tonne
tenders, government officials said.The
imported rice and grain from domestic stocks
will be distributed to the northeast region
through Bangladesh's Ashuganj port, the
officials said.The imports and the distribution
arrangement underscore the extensive
challenges India faces as it tries to become a
regional agricultural powerhouse.
But the quantities are too small to shake up the
rice market.India took the crown as the
world's top rice exporter in 2012, with nearly
10 million tonnes of annual overseas sales
since then. It last imported rice in the early
1990s.The country is undertaking the first
major overhaul of the region's rail
infrastructure since the British laid tracks there
nearly 100 years ago. The broadening of the
railway gauge will start in October and is
likely to be completed in April 2015.The
states of Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, and
parts of Assam state, which normally receive
their grain supplies from the northern plains of
India, look set to be impacted the most by the
work, the officials said. Rice is the staple food
of the region, with consumption estimated at
80,000 tonnes a month.
Bringing in the grain via
Bangladesh, which is only
a few hundred kilometers
from the cut-off locations,
is expected to be cost
effective and less
susceptible to delays than hauling it by truck
across more than 1,000 km (621 miles) of
mountain roads from traditional supply
centers.State-run Food Corporation of India
(FCI), the main grains procurement agency,
uses railway wagons to supply rice and other
grains to the northeastern states. But in the
absence of modern broad gauge railway
tracks, supplies beyond Silchar in Assam
frequently get delayed and disrupted.
POT-HOLED ROADS
Dependence on the region's road network is
also tricky.Road blockades are almost a
regular feature in the militancy-hit region,
where a long-running ethnic insurgency often
leads to strikes and protests. The condition of
the roads are also far from ideal."There are
two highways - No.54 and No.40 - but the
latter is in a bad shape because of pot-holes,
leaving us with only one highway. For food
supplies, it is always too risky to rely only on
one highway," said a government official
directly involved in organising grain supplies
to the region.For a dry run, the FCI has started
moving grains in ships from the eastern
Kolkata port to Karimganj in Assam state.
It is also testing an alternative route - shipping
grains in barges to the Ashuganj port in
Bangladesh for supplies to Tripura
state.Earlier this month, state-run trader
MMTC Ltd (MMTC.NS) floated a tender to
import 10,000 tonnes of rice for delivery in
Mizoram. Separately, the State Trading Corp
(STCI.NS) has floated a similar tender to
import 25 percent broken rice for delivery in
Manipur."These are exploratory tenders. Let's
see what sort of response we get but we do see
the need to import more than 100,000 tonnes
of rice from Myanmar before the normal rail
route is ready in six months' time," said a
second official.
(Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
Ghanaian Rice Farmers Offered
Fresh $75m Finance
September 18, 2014 Busayo AgriBusiness
inShare1
VENTURES
AFRICA Rice
farmers in three
northern regions of
Ghana will now
have access to
additional funding,
thanks to the
newly launched $75 million fund secured by
the SNV Netherland Development
Organisation.The $75million fund which
SNV acquired from the United States
Agency for International Development
(USAID) and Financing Ghanaian
Agriculture Project (FinGAP) will help to
boost commercial rice production
locally.FinGAP is a five-year funding
intervention programme set up by the
USAID to facilitate support for rice, maize
and soya production. It was created to
address constraints that restrict the
development of commercial
agriculture.Since it launched, it has provided
funding for 1,700 farmers and processors,
with rice manufacturers the major
benefactors.
Basmati exports to fall as Iran
raises import duty to 45%

Sandip Das | New Delhi | Published: Sep 19
2014, 02:44 IST
SUMMARYIn April-July 2014, Basmati
rice exports have declined 12% to 1.19
million tonne, mainly due to slow down in
the shipment to Iran.

Indias Basmati rice exports to Iran, the
biggest market for the country's long-grain
aromatic rice shipment, are expected to fall
this fiscal due to a hefty 45% duty on
imports, imposed three months ago.Besides
the Iranian government's insistence on
certification on Good Agricultural Practices
(GAP) and ISO 2200, which deals with
food-safety management and packaging
protocols have also slowed down the
exports.As per the latest data, in the first
four months of current fiscal (April-July
2014), Basmati rice exports have declined
12% to 1.19 million tonne, mainly due to
slow down in the shipment to Iran.

Sources said earlier Iran used to impose only
10% duty on rice import. However, it hiked
the import duty a couple of months ago to
protect its domestic farmers. The Iranian
rice produce enters the market by July and
August.Last fiscal, the exports of Basmati
rice to Iran had reached the highest level at
1.4 million tonne and this year, the shipment
is expected to be around one million tonne,
said a commerce ministry official.The
official said that depending on the domestic
production in Iran, it would review the
import duty structure in the next couple of
months. Iran imports about 40% of rice
requirement and around 80% of the imports
is sourced from India.

The commerce ministry official also said an
Indian delegation will visit Iran in October
to discuss rice export issues. We need a
single-window clearance system for our rice
exports to Iran so that shipment is stream-
lined and remains sustainable, said All
India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA)
president MP Jindal,Meanwhile, Iran has
also revised the 'accepted level' of arsenic in
basmati rice from 150 ppm (parts per
million) to 120 ppm and asked Indian
exporters to put a tag on each pack of
consignment ensuring traceability in case
aresenic level is found more than the
specified limit.

Apart from Iran, other key destinations for
Indian basmati rice are Saudi Arabia, the
UAE, Kuwait and Iraq. Non-basmati rice is
exported mainly to African countries,
including Benin, Nigeria, South Africa and
Senegal.The value of Basmati rice exports in
2013-14 was at Rs 28,187 crore. The
country exported 3.7 million tonne of
Basmati rice last fiscal.India had launched a
rupee-settlement mechanism from April
2012 with Iran to avoid sanctions from the
US and the European Union.As part of this
initiative, state-owned UCO Bank has tied
up with four Iranian lenders Parsian,
Pasargad,

Rice, Corn Harvests in
India Seen Declining on
Weak Monsoon Rain

By Pratik Parija and Prabhudatta
Mishra Sep 19, 2014 5:20 PM GMT+0500
Indias monsoon-sown food grain
production is poised to drop to the lowest in
five years after a weak start to the rainy
season curbed planting and cut yields,
Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh
said.Production of rice, corn and other
grains will total 120.3 million metric tons
this year, compared with 129.2 million tons
a year earlier, Singh said. Production of rice,
the biggest crop sown during the June-
September monsoon period, is seen falling 4
percent to 88.02 million tons, he said.
Erratic rainfall and dry spells in several
parts of the country have impacted
productivity of crops, Singh told reporters
in New Delhi today. However, this
estimate doesnt take into account the
positive impact of rainfall this
month.Planting of crops from rice to
soybeans and lentils were delayed this year
as about 90 percent of India received below
normal rainfall in June. An estimated 833
million people out of the 1.2 billion
population depend on agriculture for their
livelihood and the sector accounts for 14
percent of the nations gross domestic
product.
Rains revived in August, improving crop
prospects.Production of oilseeds including
soybean may fall to 19.7 million tons from
22.4 million tons, theAgriculture
Ministry said. Sugar cane production may
fall to 342.8 million tons from 350 million
tons, while cotton crop is seen at 34.6
million bales of 170 kilograms each,
compared with 36.6 million bales in 2013, it
said.Monsoon rains rains will be 87 percent
of a 50-year average of 89 centimeters (35
inches) this year, the weakest since 2009,
the India Meteorological Department said
last month. Showers have been 12 percent
below average since the start of the season,
the agency estimates.
To contact the reporters on this story: Pratik
Parija in New Delhi
at pparija@bloomberg.net; Prabhudatta
Mishra in New Delhi
at pmishra8@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this
story: Jake Lloyd-Smith
at jlloydsmith@bloomberg.netThomas
Kutty Abraham
Arkansas Rice Industry
Donates Almost 2 Million
Servings to Feed Hungry

Rice indsutry donations to the Depot
Helping neighbors in need
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS - Today the
Arkansas rice industry donated more than
128,000 pounds of rice to the Arkansas Rice
Depot to help feed hungry Arkansans.
Participating rice processors were Riceland
Foods, Inc., Windmill Rice Company, Cormier
Rice Milling, Producers Rice Mill, Riviana
Foods, and Specialty Rice, Inc.
"The Arkansas rice
industry is pleased to
partner with the
Arkansas Rice Depot
to fight hunger in
Arkansas," said Steve Orlicek, president of the
Arkansas Rice Council. "We are proud that
today's donation will provide 1.9 million
servings of healthy and nutritious rice to hungry
families across Arkansas."
Arkansas Rice Depot is the only statewide,
faith-based food bank in Arkansas and one of
only a handful of food banks in the nation that
do not charge a fee for the food provided. In
2013, Arkansas Rice Depot distributed
approximately 9 million pounds of food and
supplies, working with 300 food pantries and
soup kitchens, more than 600 public schools, 70
Central Arkansas senior citizens, and in any
community where a disaster strikes.
Governor's Proclamation
Governor Beebe (4th from right)
declared it a very rice month in Arkansas!
"I can't express how grateful we are for the
Arkansas rice industry's generous donation,"
said Kim Aaron, President and CEO of Arkansas
Rice Depot. "They continue to play an important
role in our efforts to combat hunger here in
Arkansas. The support of the growers and mills
will make an immediate difference to thousands
of hungry children, families and seniors served
by our programs."
Arkansas is the largest rice-growing state in the
nation and Arkansas rice farmers and millers
contribute over $6 billion each year to the state's
economy, employing nearly 25,000 Arkansans.
Earlier Friday, Governor Mike Beebe issued a
proclamation declaring September "Rice Month"
in Arkansas.
Mississippi Cooks Up a
National Rice Month
Celebration
Rice Luncheon
So many choices!

CLEVELAND, MS - Today, Delta Rice
Promotions, Inc. sponsored the 24th Annual
RiceTasting Luncheon, in honor of National
Rice Month (NRM). Nearly 1,500 people from
across Mississippi joined the festivities to
support local agriculture, and visit a variety of
educational exhibits. More than 300 rice dishes,
made by community members and local
restaurants, were donated for the rice tasting
lunch.
"It is great to see the community come out to
support the Mississippi Delta farmers," said
Laura Giaccaglia, Mississippi State University
Extension Service Coordinator. "We look
forward to celebrating National Rice Month
each year because it allows us to educate the
public about rice production and enjoy delicious
rice dishes."
USA Rice participated in the event as an
exhibitor and provided attendees with rice
information, recipes, and NRM promotional
gifts.
Contact: Katie Maher (703) 236-1453
Congress Passes Continuing
Resolution Funding Bill
Here come your lawmakers...
WASHINGTON, DC - This week, the House
and Senate approved a continuing resolution
(CR) that will fund the Federal government at
existing levels through December 11of this year,
including important USDA programs such as the
Market Access Program and Foreign Market
Development program. The CR also extends
authorization for the Export-Import Bank until
June 30, 2015.The CR was necessary as none of
the individual appropriations bills have been
approved by Congress, and the new fiscal year
begins on October 1.

Congress has now adjourned, and will not return
until after the November 4 elections. At that
time, one of the "must do" items will be to
address federal funding for the remainder of the
fiscal year. Expectations are that an omnibus
appropriations bill (all spending bills grouped
together) will be passed prior to December 11.
"An omnibus bill could contain some
adjustments in spending levels and could include
some policy related items as well," explained
USA Rice president and CEO Betsy Ward.
"We'll remain very engaged with Congress to
ensure there are no surprises come November."
Contact: Reece Langley (703) 236-1472

Rice industry donates to
Arkansas Rice Depot
Updated 12:21 pm, Friday, September 19, 2014

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) Several rice
producers in Arkansas have donated 128,500
pounds of rice to the Arkansas Rice Depot.The
donation was made Friday morning at the
Arkansas Rice Depot in Little Rock with the
food to help feed hungry families in
Arkansas.Rice producers participating in the
donation are Riceland Foods, Inc., Windmill
Rice Company, Cormier Rice Milling, Producers
Rice Mill, Riviana Foods, and Specialty Rice,
Inc. The Arkansas Rice Council also presented a
$2,500 check to the Rice Depot.
The Arkansas Rice Depot is a statewide food
bank that works with 600 Arkansas hunger relief
programs, including food pantries, school food
programs, disaster relief organizations, and a
statewide hunger hotline.Arkansas is the largest
rice-growing state in the nation with production
of nearly 9 billion pounds annually.
Festival this weekend
highlights regions rice history
September 19, 2014 By Jonathan Spiers
PortCityDaily.com is your source for free
news and information in the Wilmington
area.The inaugural North Carolina Rice
Festival is scheduled Saturday and Sunday
at Brunswick Riverwalk at Belville. Image
courtesy Town of Belville
A celebration of the regions rice history and
culture will fill the former Brunswick River
Park in Belville this weekend.Now called
the Brunswick Riverwalk at Belville, the
park will play host to the inaugural North
Carolina Rice Festival, a first-of-its-kind
event intended to highlight the history and
influence of rice growing, as well as its
continued production in the state.
Presented by the North Brunswick Chamber
of Commerce, the two-day event will feature
vendors and exhibitors, a rice-cooking
contest, live music and other activities.
Among the exhibitors will be a
representative with the USA Rice
Federation, an advocacy group for the
countrys rice industry.
The fest will also feature a youth art show,
food vendors, a beer garden and a kids play
area. More information about events is
available on the festivals
website, ncricefestival.com.Rice plantations
were plentiful in the Lower Cape Fear
dating back to the 18th century. The
Woodburn plantation, in what is now
Leland, was among those that dotted the
banks of the Brunswick River, along with
Clarendon and Orton farther south toward
Southport.
At Orton, efforts are currently underway to
restore the plantations neglected rice fields.
Owner Louis Moore Bacon, who purchased
the property in 2010, intends to return Orton
to its roots as a working rice plantation,
following decades of use as a botanical
garden and tourist attraction.
Festival organizer W.C. Lanier, a Scotts Hill
resident who has promoted events including
the Cape Fear Wildlife Expo, said the
activity at Orton was one of the motivations
for holding a festival focused on rice. When
he learned of a rice festival held in
Arkansas, Lanier said he started researching
this areas history.
I didnt realize how much was grown.
There were actually, in the late 1700s/early-
1800s, 64 rice plantations in the Cape Fear
region, Lanier said. And in 1860, I think
there were eight million bushels shipped that
year overseas, just from the Cape Fear
region. We ought to play on that history.
Lanier said response to the festival has been
positive, and he intends to make the festival
an annual event. He said the Town of
Belville, which is also a sponsor, is happy
the event will also highlight its riverwalk
an in-the-works project that will incorporate
the park site on River Road, located across
from Belville Elementary School.
Of all the things Ive done, weve probably
got more excitement about this, he said,
because people start looking it up, and
theres actually several books been written
right recently about the rice fields. Orton is
starting to put their plantation back to its
original state and actually is going to plant
some rice fields and will be in production.
The festival is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 6
p.m. Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday. Admission is $5, free for children
under 12, with proceeds benefiting the North
Brunswick Chamber of Commerce and other
nonprofits in the Wilmington area.
Attendees should park across the street at
Belville Elementary School, 575 River Road
SE.
jonathan.s@portcitydaily.com
Image: The festival will be held at the
Brunswick Riverwalk at Belville, located across
N.C. 133 from Belville Elementary School.
Photo courtesy Brunswick County.
New panel to look at rice prices
[Bangkok Post, Thailand
09/18/2014 10:21 AM ET
Sept. 18--A panel that includes
representatives from the Commerce Ministry
and farmers will be set up to address low
paddy prices and work out strategies to
handle rice issues.Boonyarit Kalayanamit,
inspector-general of the Commerce Ministry
and spokesman for Commerce Minister
Chatchai Sarikulya, said the panel would
meet every two weeks starting from next
week to discuss rice prices and how to
stabilise them, with a goal of shoring them
up at a minimum of 8,500 baht a tonne.The
minister called a meeting yesterday with five
farmer groups ? the Thai Farmers
Association, the Thai Agriculturists
Association, the Thai Farmer Support
Association, a network of Thai farmers, and
the Community Rice Center.

They all agreed the new panel would play a
vital role in sorting out farmers'
problems.Mr Boonyarit said the ministry
pledged to work closer with the state-owned
Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural
Cooperatives to offer soft loans to farmers in
the Northeast and Upper North, where rice
barn owners have delayed rice sales.The
ministry is also committed to working out
ways to improve the grains' quality, cutting
production costs and raising
productivity.The ministry will also establish
"Mr Rice", a new unit to coordinate with
other rice-related agencies and monitor the
industry and related issues.Internal Trade
Department figures show as of Tuesday,
paddy prices this year with moisture of less
than 15% were quoted at 7,500 to 8,200 baht
a tonne.In related news, Mr Boonyarit said
the ministry had been accelerating sales of
state rice stocks but noted a key stumbling
block was rice quality inspections, which
took time.

Rawee Rungruang, who leads a network of
farmers, hailed the new panel.It will allow
the government and state authorities to hear
and see their real problems so they could
work out accurate measures demanded by
farmers, he said.Mr Rawee urged authorities
to monitor paddy prices closely, saying the
market was expected to feel the pinch in
November and December, when the new
harvest from the main crop would be
churned out.

For Advertisement rates & Specs
mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com
+92 321 369 2874