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November 02,2015
Vol 5, Issue 11

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Rice News Headlines...

Basmati cheaper than bottled water, no end to farmers woes

3K Mandis to Procure Kharif Paddy
Farmings growth based on research
Tackling invasive rice-killing fungi
Problems at Burma Rice Research Station
Govt plan to import more rice assailed
Zero levy system becomes a curse
Measures set to stop rice prices falling
Column: India needs direct-seeded rice
Exporters expect Iran to issue fresh Basmati rice permits by Dec
Rice-scheme fan Kittiratt defends the indefensible
National Scientist Benito S. Vergara: The many-splendored botanist
Government policy on Nigerian rice importation

News Detail...
Basmati cheaper than bottled water, no end to farmers woes
Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service
Sirsa, October 31
Bottled water selling for Rs 20 and basmati for Rs 16 a kg, says Amit Mehta, a progressive farmer of the
district.This irony sums up the agony of farmers who sowed various varieties of basmati this year. While
Pusa 1509, once hailed as a revolutionary step in view of its shorter duration and high yield, sold for Rs
1100 per quintal other traditional varieties like PB-1 (Muchhal basmati) and PB 1121 are selling for Rs
1500 Rs 1800 per quintal against last years prices between Rs 3500 - Rs 4000.This price is not
enough for a farmer who has taken land on lease to recover inputs costs what to talk of profit, said Avtar
Singh, a farmer who grew basmati at Katakheri and Bhirdana villages.
Gurjeet Singh Mann, a progressive farmer from Kirpal Patti village in Sirsa, said the efforts to grow the
crop were not worth it.Prices are purely driven by market forces, said Radhe Sham Jindal, president,
Rice Millers Association.Against exports of 50 lakh MT there was a production of 73 lakh MT last year.
While the exports are likely to remain constant, we again have a production of 80 lakh MT this year.
Given the fact that rice is not a staple diet in India, there is quite negligible domestic consumption of
basmati leading to extra stocks, he said.Dr Kuldeep Singh Dhindsa, a retired scientist from Chaudhary

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Charan Singh Haryana Agriculture University, said despite steep fall in prices of paddy it does not reflect
in the prices of basmati rice available in the market.Basmati is still being sold for Rs 60 per quintal by
millers and for over Rs 100 per kg in smaller packs of different brands.

Dr Dhindsa said the agriculture scientists and economists must not only develop new
varieties but also suggest farmers the crops to be grown in accordance with market
demands.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/haryana/basmati-cheaper-than-bottled-water-no-end-tofarmers-woes/152952.html

3K Mandis to Procure Kharif Paddy

By Express News Service
Published: 01st November 2015 05:56 AM

Last Updated: 01st November 2015 05:56 AM

BHUBANESWAR:Setting a target to procure 30 lakh tonnes of rice in the current kharif
marketing season (KMS), the State Government on Saturday said 3,000 mandis (market yards)
will be opened for paddy procurement.The Government will procure 23 lakh tonnes of rice
during kharif and another seven lakh tonnes during rabi season this year. In view of the crop loss
due to drought condition in 21 districts, it may revise the target if the need arises, official sources
said.Minister of State for Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Sanjay Dasburma urged the
farmers to sell their crops to the Government nominated agencies at the procurement centres
instead of directly selling it to rice millers.
A meeting of farmer representatives and millers was held here and issues relating paddy
procurement and payment of minimum support price (MSP) to the farmers to avoid distress sale
of paddy was discussed."I have received several complaints of rice millers procuring paddy
directly from farmers. I requested the farmers representatives not to sell their produce to
millers," Dasburma said.Following demands for higher MSP, the Minister assured that the State
Government will write to the Centre to increase the MSP for paddy and provide bonus as
well.The Centre has fixed the MSP for common variety of paddy for the current KMS at Rs
1,410 per quintal.The Minister said he has convened three division level meetings with
Collectors starting from November 4 to discuss the outcome of today's meeting. "We are taking
necessary steps to coordinate between the Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare (FS&CW),
Agriculture and Cooperation Departments to ensure a smooth procurement," he said.
The FS&CW department has implemented paddy procurement automation system in 60 blocks
last year and has decided to extend the scheme to 100 additional blocks this year to streamline
the procurement and ensure timely payment to the farmers.

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http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/3K-Mandis-to-Procure-KharifPaddy/2015/11/01/article3108072.ece

Farmings growth based on research

Don Curlee9:19 p.m. PDT October 31, 2015

Farming in California is more dependent on research than most people, even

farmers, know, and the primary channel for providing it and transmitting it to
farmers is now involved in a rebuilding and strengthening process.The
Cooperative Extension Service is a longstanding, government assisted system for
conducting agricultural research and extending the findings to farmers. It
operates as its founders designed through the nations land grant universities. In
California, it serves its patrons through the University of California.
VISALIA TIMES-DELTA AND TULARE ADVANCE-REGISTER

Research, sex allow citrus to proliferate

One of the systems many valuable features is its ability to carry information both ways, to and
from farmers. Much of its input originates with both experience and experiments at the farm
level, transmitted to university and other static research facilities and personnel. It usually
becomes part of experiments, tests and assays, the results of which return to farm operators as
information resources.While the well-established system and tradition of the Extension Service
serves as its structural foundation, the reality and personality that keeps it alive reside in its
personnel, the farm advisers, and family, home and consumer advisers stationed in every
strategic farming community in the state.
About 171 of them are at work today in California, and dozens more are being recruited.Some
are specialists who occupy and oversee permanent facilities, such as the citrus research facility at
Lemon Cove in Tulare County, the rice research station at Biggs in Butte County, the forest
research center in Grass Valley, the Intermountain research facility in Tulelake and the Westside
research station near Five Points in Fresno County.Of course, even broader and more diverse
research is carried on at the Kearney Research facility in Parlier in Fresno County. Entire field
and orchard plots are growing there for study and experimentation to benefit producers and
handlers of the crops typical of the area. It also serves as a central location for meetings, tours
and on-site observation and evaluation of the experiments and test plots conducted
there.Extension reaches beyond and around farms, too.

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Family, home and consumer advisers transmit the universitys research findings to homemakers.
They are the communication link with 4-H Clubs that teach and train thousands of youngsters
each year in the ways of rural living, homemaking and animal care and husbandry. They
coordinate the program that reaches and trains master gardeners, volunteers with knowledge and
experience offered to other gardeners, functioning in cities up and down California, many of
them in tightly packed metropolitan areas.
By being stationed in outlying communities, some of them far from university facilities, the
advisers can assimilate the character and personality of the areas where they work. They not only
know the characteristics of the people in the areas they serve, they are people of the area.The
rebuilding and expansion process that now engulfs Californias Cooperative Extension Service is
necessary because its personnel base aged, and retirement of dedicated members outpaced
recruitment of replacement personnel. One of the goals of the current rebuilding program is to
staff all facilities fully, and provide a corps of personnel in training that can step in quickly when
further retirements occur, as they will in the years ahead.
Extension, as most farmers call it, is rebuilding to serve the farm community and California
citizens in all walks of life. It is strengthening its link with its constituency and upgrading its
communication facilities. Its not changing so much as it is growing.In many ways the
Cooperative Extension Service mirrors the experience and character of its main constituent,
farming. In California, strength and increased outreach is the future for both. Their health and
vitality can serve as an example for much of the California economy and that celebrated
California way of life.Don Curlee is a freelance writer who specializes in agricultural issues.
http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/story/news/local/2015/11/01/farmings-growth-basedresearch/74947640/

Tackling invasive rice-killing fungi

By Tim Sandle

in Science

Tokyo - Scientists have a clue as to how to stop fungi that kills a variety of fruits, vegetables,
rice. Researchers have identified the enzyme used by the fungus to make tenuazonic acid, which
is the toxin that kills the crops.
By using molecular biological methods, the researchers successful identified the gene for the
enzyme that produces the deadly tenuazonic acid toxin. In doing so they found a unique among
structure and this may offer clues for how to tackle the disease. The study was conducted at the
RIKEN (Rikagaku Kenkysho, or the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research) in
Japan.Tenuazonic acid is a mycotoxin. If present in high numbers there are concerns that it could
pose a threat to human health, although very high quantities would be required. In one study,

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moist corn-rice substrate infused with the toxin was fed to rats and this was shown to be lethal.
With rice, the presence of the toxin can be seen via the appearance of brown spots.The crop
killing mycotoxin is produced by three different types of food spoilage fungi. So far, the toxin
has proved difficult for researchers to examine because it is not produced by fungi under
laboratory conditions.
This led the RIKEN researchers, working within the Center for Sustainable Resource Sciences
(CSRS), to reason that the toxin must be linked to a gene that is triggered only when the fungi
are subjected to particular environmental conditions and stresses.This intuition proved to be
correct and a gene called OSM1 was examined and found to the basis of a biosynthetic pathway
that activates and enzyme and which, in turn, triggers particular fungi to produce the dangerous
toxin.
The finding was confirmed through studies conducted on Magnaporthe oryzae, which is the most
notorious of the three fungi for causing spoilage of rice crops.The research is published in the
journal Nature Communications. The study is headed Biosynthesis of the mycotoxin tenuazonic
acid by a fungal NRPSPKS hybrid enzyme.In related news, scientists have analysed a
beneficial fungus that can work as a disease control agent to protect cotton crops from pathogens.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/science/tackling-invasive-rice-killing-fungi/article/448121#ixzz3qKQ9Yo8T

Problems at Burma Rice Research Station

Dear Editor,
The rice industry in Guyana plays a vital role in the country which contributes greatly to the GDP. The
Burma Rice Research Station which should be the premium institution for rice in Guyana and further
afield is very poorly managed.The reason for saying this as I have previously indicated through the press
is that there are serious problems in the industry, apart from finding high-priced markets for our rice,
with: (1) Red rice weeds, (2) issues of paddy bugs and other pest and disease problems, (3) Poor quality
of seeds produced at Burma and (4) Poor marketing and biased distribution of the seed paddy produced
by the station to the farmers etc. This is all clearly due to having square pegs in round holes.This is a
call for President David Granger, Minister of State Joseph Harmon and Minister of Agriculture, Noel

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Holder to look into these issues and make the necessary changes so that the rice farmers of our country
can receive better services from the GRDB Burma Rice Research Station.

Yours faithfully,
(Name and address supplied)
http://www.stabroeknews.com/2015/opinion/letters/10/31/problems-at-burma-rice-research-station/

Govt plan to import more rice assailed

by Charissa Luci

November 1, 2015

Lawmakers strongly rejected yesterday the Aquino administrations planned rice importation
early next year.Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate and Gabriela party-list Rep.
Luz Ilagan opposed the additional importation of one million metric tons on top of the 500,000
metric tons programmed for the first quarter of 2016.That is a clear admission that its much
ballyhooed rice-sufficiency program is a total sham. All the claims in President Aquinos past
SONAs that rice importation will soon become a thing of the past were all lies, he said in an
interview after the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) sought approval of
its proposal to import more rice early next year.Food security is not a priority of this
administration; importation is. And, to the damage and prejudice of the farmers, it is not
surprising that its favored rice importers and cartels will be laughing once again on their way to
the bank, Zarate lamented.
NEDA Director General Arsenio M. Balisacan said the planned rice importation is aimed at
ensuring that price of rice would not spike as they are assessing the impact of El Nio as well as
the crop damage brought about by typhoon Lando.Gabriela party-list Rep. Luz Ilagan said the
governments rice importation policy is unacceptable.It is difficult to accept that we have to
import rice to prevent a price spike. Meanwhile, our farmers are suffering from lack of support
and income, she said.Why is it beyond the capabilities of goverment to subsidize our farmers
so that government buys from them and at the same assure adequate rice supply and prevent a
price spike? she asked.Zarate said Congress should step in and look into the Aquino
governments excessive rice importation habits.
He said that the National Food Authority, Bureau of Customs, and Food Security Council must
be asked to clarify if indeed the country is not rice self-sufficient; whether or not the
pronouncement made by Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala that the country is self-sufficient
is true; or there are really irregularities concerning the excessive importation of rice.It is the
primordial duty of Congress to partake in measures or actions that would ensure not only food

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security to the public, but also their protection from those who try to abuse our resources, he
said.
http://www.mb.com.ph/govt-plan-to-import-more-rice-assailed/#741ryoD2rxGheJcm.99

Zero levy system becomes a curse

November 02,2015, 03.38 AM IST | | THE HANS INDIA

Nalgonda: The decision of the Central government to scrap the levy system has resulted either
in most of the mills being closed or are on the verge of closure leaving thousands of families
jobless.

Out of 270 rice mills in the district, 100 rice mills are concentrated around Miryalaguda town. The zero
levy system has become a curse to the rice millers as well as to the hamalies (heavy load carrying labour)
and workers.The rice mills located around Miryalaguda have the capacity of milling 5,000 tonnes of
paddy per day. In all, 5, 000 families have been eking their livelihood depending on the rice mills in the
district.As per the levy stem that was in force for the last 30 years, millers used to supply 75 per cent rice
from the procured paddy to the government and the remaining 25 per cent was sold in the open
market.The millers had invested huge money to expand their rice.
But with the sudden decision of the Centre to scrap the levy system, the millers have now been pushed
into a deep crisis.Talking to The Hans India Miryalaguda Rice Millers Association president Karnati
Ramesh deplored that majority of the millers had invested huge amount of money to setup mills by
mortgaging their properties in banks and private money lenders. With the scrapping of the levy system,
they had no other option but to close their mills. He said the millers pay Rs 1.5 to Rs 6 lakhs as electricity
charges every month depending on the size of the mill.Taking the present condition in to consideration,

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the State government should take a decision to exempt collection of the minimum electricity charges and
bill only for units consumedIn thepresent situation, the millers would have the work of custom mill from
the side of the government. But, the charges for custom miller were very low. The charges for milling of
raw paddy are Rs 15 per quintal and Rs 25 for boiled rice. After deducting the Income Tax, storage and
transport charges, the millers would actually get Rs 12 for raw rice and Rs 20 for boiled rice milling.It is
not financially possible for the millers to run the mills only depending on custom milling. Hence, the
millers were demanding the government to immediately increase the charges of custom milling and take
steps for revival of levy system by pursuing the matter with the Centre.
On the other hand, the situation of hamalies and labour working in the rice mills is pathetic as they have
been left jobless for the last three months. A hamali Thripati said that it has become hard to find work in
the rice mills for the last three to four months. We had no skills to do alternative work. It was severely
impacting their economic condition, he lamented. The managements of the mills have also issued
notices to drivers and other staff that their jobs stand terminated from November 1, 2015. A lorry driver G
Krishna, who received such notice from the management, informed that nearly 1,000 drivers and cleaners
would be losing jobs as the mills were not operational.

http://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/2015-11-02/Zero-levy-system-becomes-a-curse-183935
By Pillalamarri Srinivas

Measures set to stop rice prices falling

PETCHANET PRATRUANGKRAI
THE NATION
October 31, 2015 1:00 am
THE COMMERCE Ministry, in cooperation with the Thai Rice Exporters Association, has
launched measures to prevent rice prices falling during the upcoming main-crop harvest.The goal
is to prevent white paddy rice trading below a range of Bt8,000-Bt8,500 per tonne, while the
price of paddy jasmine rice should be maintained at no lower than Bt13,500.Charoen
Laothamatas, president of the association, said yesterday that its members had agreed to spend a
combined Bt50 million to purchase 100,000 of jasmine rice from the market at about Bt26,000
per tonne to absorb supply from the market during the next four months."This amount of
purchased rice will not be traded in the market, but will be stocked for three months to ensure
that there is no oversupply during the harvest season," he explained.
The measure should help guarantee that the price of paddy jasmine rice does not fall below
Bt13,500 a tonne, and that farmers can get a profit of at least 15-30 per cent from their output, he
added.The association could consider increasing the overall purchase volume if it eventually
found there was an oversupply problem, its chief said.For white paddy rice, the ministry expects

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prices will be no lower than Bt8,000-Bt8,500 a tonne in the coming months, due to higher
demand for white rice in many markets - mainly the Philippines, Indonesia and African
countries.Moreover, Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn said the ministry would suspend its
plan to release rice from the government's stocks via auction during the harvest season from
November to February, in a bid to prevent prices falling.In the meantime, it will only consider
selling rotten rice for use in the production of biomass or as base-material supply for energy
production, she said.About 16 million to 17 million tonnes of paddy rice are expected to be
harvested during the main-crop harvest, well below the normal level of about 23 million tonnes
due to the drought problems faced by farmers this year.
To help farmers, the government earlier came up with a measure to allocate Bt26.42 billion to
provide soft loans for them to stock rice in their barns during the harvest season.This should help
absorb about 2 million tonnes of rice from the market.Charoen also projected that Thailand
should be able to export at least 9.5 million to 10 million tonnes of rice this year, and around 10
million tonnes next year.With high demand in the market, the amount of rice in the government's
stockpile should be reduced to 5 million tonnes next year, he said.With about 13 million tonnes
currently held in the stockpile, the Commerce Ministry said that 1 million to 2 million tonnes
could be sold this year under government-to-government contracts.
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Measures-set-to-stop-rice-prices-falling-30271977.html

Column: India needs direct-seeded rice

For resource-frugal DSR to take off, it must be adopted by herbicide companies
By: Vivian Fernandes | October 31, 2015 12:17 AM

Bihars election scene is lush with issues pertaining to identity and development, with leaders
counting on promises, performance, equationscaste and communaland the missteps of rivals
to fetch them a rich crop of votes; but its agricultural landscape, in contrast, is likely to turn in a
poor harvest this kharif season.Rains have failed the state. Precipitation for the three months
ended September 30 was 742 millimetres. This is 28% short of the states normal rainfall and is
in line with the trend this half-decade. Except in 2011, when there was a 3% excess, the state has
been in deficit ranging from 17% to 30% in four of the last five years.Driving through
Muzaffarpur, Vaishali and Samastipur districts of Bihar, one could see the distress in the fields.
Rice plants were upright when they should have been bent with heavy ears of rice. One scientist
estimated the yield would be a third less this year.
With weather turning erratic, some farmers changed cultivation practices. N K Singh, chief
scientist (rice) and professor at Rajendra Agricultural University at Pusa in Samastipur, is
advising the more progressive of them to do direct-seeding of rice in wet fields like their

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forefathers used to do before the Green Revolution. That was a strategy to cope with flooding in
the chors or bowl-shaped lowlands. Farmers would throw a mix of seeds. They would harvest
rice if rainfall was adequate or jowar and moong if it fell short.But the direct-seeding advocated
now is to cope with drought. Grow rice as if it were wheat, Singh tells farmers. He is working
with the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA)one of its three India research stations is in
Pusa.Direct-seeded rice (DSR) was not possible so long as new-age herbicide molecules were
not available.
That was the reason paddies were flooded with stagnant water to kill weeds. But with chemicals
like pendimethalin and bispyribac sodium available, rice can be directly sown with or without
ploughing, either manually (dibbling and broadcasting) or mechanically with zero-till machines
or Happy seeders.DSR saves me 50% of the cost in labour, fertiliser and water, says Pappu
Singh, 42, of Bhishapur Digambara village in Samastipur. That is becuase he does not have to
spend on tractors and workers to puddle the fields and transplant the rice. He has sown rice
directly on 8 acres.DSR is high on the agenda of BISA, which is a joint effort of the Indian
Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the Mexico-based International Maize and Wheat
Improvement Centre (known as CIMMYT, after its Spanish initials), from where dwarf varieties
of wheat came to India for the Green Revolution. It has been propagating the technique through
its three research stations in India at Ludhiana, Jabalpur and Pusa.
The Pusa station has enrolled 126 farmers in 19 villages of Samastipur and Vaishali districts this
year. In all, they have 290 kattas under DSR, ranging from 3 to 44 kattas each. Average farms
here are small and the patches are also scattered. (Twenty-two kattas make an acre).Satish
Dwivedi, 53, of Chandpura in Muzzafarpur district, has 25 acres under DSR in three parts. The
son of a maths professor, he has persuaded other farmers in the village to adopt it. In all, about
150 acres are under DSR, but a tenth has gone bad, says Dwivedi, because some growers lack
discipline. Herbicides need moisture to take effect. Some farmers irrigated their fields with a lag
after spraying, so the weedicides were not effective, he says. Other did not laser-level the fields,
so the patches that were not wet have clumps of weeds.Sudhir Kumar Pandey of Bishanpur
Bakhri village of Muzaffarpur district says he made a mistake by not using pre-emergent
herbicides because of which he had to spray chemicals twice after sowing, and also do manual
weeding.
This has raised his cost. Pandey has 15 acres, most of which are under cash crops like ginger,
turmeric, yam, potatoes, maize and lime. If it were not for DSR I would not have grown rice,

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says Pandey. His neat, picture postcard-like village with paved streets and cemented drains
announces its caste affiliation with a Bhumihar Tola signpost at the entrance.My experience
with DSR has not been good because nature has not been supportive, says Ravindra Prasad
Yadav, 48, of Senduari village in Vaishali. He could not give the required irrigation, so a part of
his crop failed to germinate.For Musafir Rai, 72, of the same village, who retired from the
Armys electricity department, the monsoon season has been a wasted one. He did DSR but the
crop failed despite four irrigations.
Last year, I had a nice rice crop but this year I have lost big, he says. Four irrigations should
have been enough. Why his crop failed requires investigation.Rai planted Rajendra Bhagwati, a
short-duration aromatic variety developed by N K Singh and named after Singhs university and
favourite deity. It is quite popular in these parts. It is ready for harvest in 120 days, which means
less irrigation.But even directly sown, short-duration rice requires a few irrigations. With diesel
costing R50 a litre, using groundwater is just not economical. The state has installed a common
tube well and pumping station in the village, but the village folk complain that the operator does
not turn up.
There is not enough social cohesion in the village for people to unite in protest and compel the
operator to do his job.At the BISA campus in Pusa, the rice fields are dense with grain. Raj
Kumar Jat, the scientist in charge of the station, expects to harvest 4.5-7 tonnes per hectare,
depending on the rice variety. He asserts there is no difference between the methods his team has
employed and those recommended to farmers, except that at the research station, they follow
processes diligently. He says he has given three irrigations to short-duration rice varieties and
five to long-duration ones. He says farmers tend to second-guess the advice they get and blame
scientists and extension workers when things go wrong. They also unwisely use the wrong tools.
For instance, a spray pump with a single nozzle does an uneven job as against a boom with three
nozzles.
Direct-sown rice is one of the five components of climate-smart villages which agencies like the
ICAR and BISA are advocating, so that poor farmers are assured of income, food and nutrition
security while using resources frugally. No-till wheat; planting in raised bed for efficient use of
water and fertiliser; and introduction of a pulses crop like moong in the rice, wheat and maize
cropping system (to enrich the soil with atmospheric nitrogen) are other components.The Bihar
government has wanted 40,000 acres under DSR this year. It is unlikely to meet the target.

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Government departments just do not have the drive despite self-motivated leaders like the
university professors mentioned earlier.
For DSR to take off, it must be adopted by herbicide companies. Both water and labour are in
short-supply. Farmers are keen to adopt low-cost technologies. But they need to be coached in
the right methods. Herbicide companies can do that. With larger volumes, they can also afford to
cut prices. The widespread adoption of Bt cotton across the country and that of corn hybrids by
Bihar farmers during the rabi season, with high levels of productivity, suggest that private
companies

must

directly

steer

DSR.The

author

is

consulting

editor

to

www.smartindianagriculture.in
http://www.financialexpress.com/article/fe-columnist/column-india-needs-direct-seeded-rice/159180/

Exporters expect Iran to issue fresh Basmati rice permits by

Dec
Iran, the biggest buyer of Basmati, had stopped fresh import licences in Oct 2014, citing high pesticide content
and self-sufficiency
Namrata Acharya | Kolkata. October 31, 2015 Last Updated at 22:31 IST

Farmers unlikely to raise basmati acreageLifting of Iran sanctions boon for basmatiBasmati rice
exporters in a fix over falling pricesBasmati rice acreage to go up despite lower realisation last
year.After a gap of more than a year, Iran is expected to issue fresh licences for import of
Basmati rice from India over the next two months. We have got indications from importers in
Iran that they may issue fresh licences from December or January, said Rajen Sundaresan,
executive director, All-India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA).Iran had stopped issuing
fresh licences for Basmati import since October last year, citing reasons such as high pesticide
content and self-sufficiency in production.
Traditionally, Basmati is Indias top agri-export commodity and Iran is its biggest buyer. As a
result of Irans reluctance, Basmati export has taken a major hit. In 2014-15, India exported 0.93
million tonnes (mt ) of basmati rice to Iran, compared to 1.4 mt in 2013-14, according to the
Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda). The
realisation from basmati exports to Iran in 2014-15 was Rs 6,759 crore, against Rs 10,976 crore
in 2013-14, a fall of nearly 60 per cent.Data from the All India Rice Exporters Association
(AIREA) show in August 2015, Indias basmati export to Iran was valued at around Rs 192
crore, against Rs 335 crore in August last year, a fall of about 42 per cent. In terms of quantity,
exports dropped to 33,554 tonne in August, from 44,022 tonne in August last year, a fall of
nearly 23 per cent.

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According to the Food and Agriculture

Organizations biannual report on global food
markets, in 2015-16, Irans total cereal imports is
forecast to be 14.7 million tonnes, against 15
million tonnes in 2014-15.In 2014-15, Indias
total exports to Iran were valued at $4,175
million, down 16 per cent from the previous year.
About 80 per cent of Indias agriculture and
processed food exports to Iran are on account of
basmati rice.Against an average monthly
shipment of about 100,000 tonnes two years ago,
the current basmati export to Iran is not more than 70,000 tonnes a month.
Business Standard

Rice-scheme fan Kittiratt defends the indefensible

Veera Prateepchaikul Former Editor
2 Nov 2015 at 04:25

Former deputy prime minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong seems to take pride in being one of the
staunchest defenders of the Pheu Thai Party's botched rice pledging scheme and former prime
minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who is facing dereliction of duty charges for mishandling the rice
scheme that caused huge losses to the state.Last Friday, Mr Kittiratt posted a message on his
Facebook page defending the rice pledging scheme as corruption-free, transparent and wellmeaning for having bettered the plight of rice farmers.
His message on social media was a follow-up to a statement issued earlier by Pheu Thai
defending the rice scheme and Ms Yingluck in wake of the government's plan to invoke the
special powers vested in Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha by Section 44 of the interim
constitution to force Ms Yingluck to pay compensation for the scheme's losses, estimated to be at
least 500 billion baht.In his Facebook message, Mr Kittiratt claimed the scheme had not
damaged the state. To the contrary, it has proven to be beneficial to rice farmers and the
economy in general, he said.The rice pledging scheme, he said, should not be viewed in the
context of profit and loss. It amounted to a social contract to directly benefit rice farmers, and the
money spent on the scheme will return to the people, he added.
The former Securities and Exchange Commission director and national football team manager
claimed that every baht of the 878,209 million baht spent by the Yingluck government to buy
paddy from farmers went directly into the hands of 23 million rice farmers and improved their
lot. He also claimed the rice scheme had built-in mechanisms to prevent corruption and enhance
examination.Well, Mr Kittiratt can say whatever he likes, even to the point that the scheme was
as clean as hospital linen, and that allegations of massive corruption were purely a fabrication to

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discredit it and the Pheu Thai Party. But whether the public, except perhaps those affiliated with
the party and the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, take him seriously is another
matter.Take for instance his claim the rice scheme was free from corruption. That indeed is a
joke.This reminds me of a press conference held by then commerce minister Boonsong
Teriyapirom on June 7, 2013.Alongside Mr Boonsong at the time were deputy commerce
minister Natthawut Saikua, deputy finance minister Anusak Lek-uthai, the chief of the Foreign
Trade Department and executives of the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives,
among others. They were being grilled by reporters.
The press conference was a complete fiasco as all from the ministry including senior officials
could not answer a few simple questions raised by the reporters. These included the estimated
loss after three rice crops were bought under the scheme; how much rice was in storage and how
much rice had actually sold.A video clip of the event showed an awkward-looking Mr Natthawut
repeatedly sipping water from a glass when he was caught speechless by the simple questions.In
both Mr Kittiratt's Facebook message and the Pheu Thai Party's statement in defence of the
scheme, there was no mention of the fake government-to-government rice deals between the
Foreign Trade Department and Chinese state enterprises which were subject to a corruption
probe by the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
Among those implicated was Mr Boonsong and former commerce deputy minister Poom
Sarapol.There was no mention either of the 16 farmers who committed suicide after not being
paid for the rice they sold under the scheme.Or the rice smuggled in from Myanmar, Laos and
Cambodia and sold as Thai rice to the millers.Or the millions of tonnes of spoiled rice left in
storage which, if it could be sold to produce bio-fuel would at best fetch a fraction of the 14,000
baht a tonne it cost under the scheme.According to Mr Kittiratt, more than 800 billion baht was
spent to buy paddy from farmers.
That was the amount spent by the Yingluck government in just two years, to buy five rice crops - three main crops and two second rice crops.Worse, most of the rice was kept in stockpiles
because it had been bought at above-market prices and could not be sold.That was probably why
Mr Boonsong and his deputy were evasive when asked about how much rice was sold and to
whom and at what prices.Imagine how much taxpayers' money would have been wasted had the
scheme been prolonged for another couple of years.
While rice experts and traders the world over saw the rice pledging scheme as simplistic,
unrealistic and loss-ridden, the Pheu Thai Party still believes otherwise and vows to carry on
with the scheme if re-elected.Obviously, the main beneficiary of the scheme is not farmers but
the party -- in respect of votes from the farmers. Many others have benefitted too, undeservedly
so. These included rice millers, surveyors, officials and politicians.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/750856/rice-scheme-fan-kittiratt-defends-the-indefensible

National Scientist Benito S. Vergara: The many-splendored

botanist
by Dr. Emil Javier

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October 31, 2015

There were profuse words of praise at the necrological service at the Church Among the Palms in
Los Baos for the late National Scientist Benito S. Vergara who passed away this week.
Numerous colleagues and friends from academe, the science community, the horticulture
industry, and government, including church workers and ordinary people took turns in recalling
his contributions to the world of science, the roles he played in their respective institutions and
social circles, his endearing qualities as a person and how he touched their lives.Splendor is the
quality of being magnificent or grand, anything that outshines the usual. The life story of this
gentle, self-effacing and kindly soul revolved around his passion for science but his interests and
commitments went beyond it.
He was likewise a keen student of the arts and history; a consummate ornamental horticulturist
and a successful commercial nursery man; proved to be an excellent science communicator on
the side, and a deeply spiritual person who gave freely of himself to his church and community.
And in all these endeavors he went beyond the usual.Dr. Ben as he is fondly called by colleagues
and friends spent 38 productive years as a plant physiologist at the International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI) in Los Baos. He is best known and widely acclaimed for his basic, pioneering
studies on three very important agronomic traits of the rice plant, namely, photoperiodicity,
flooding tolerance and cold tolerance.His initial research concentration was understanding the
response and behavior of the rice plant to day length or photoperiod. The indica-type varieties of
rice grown in the warm tropics (as opposed to the Japonica varieties common in colder climates)
were sensitive to photoperiod and flowered when the days got shorter.
For this reason the traditional rice varieties took 5-6 months (150-180 days) to mature and
therefore can be grown only once a year.This became a very important objective in the breeding
program at IRRI and led to the development of modern varieties which are insensitive to
photoperiod and which can be planted any time of the year. These new varieties mature
optimally in 110-120 days but some even as early as 90 days.Dr. Vergara and his research team
likewise conducted fundamental studies on tolerance to flooding which affect about 20 million
hectares in Asia. In the low-lying tropics, rice fields are periodically subjected to flooding or
complete submergence which lead to death of the rice plants or severe reductions in yield.
Dr. Vergara led his team in understanding the mechanism of flood tolerance, developed a method
to screen for flood tolerance and identified accessions possessing the desired trait. The protocols
for characterization, screening and selection which his team developed continue to be used today
by IRRI and national rice scientists in developing flood tolerant varieties.He applied the same
rigor in studying and understanding the phenomenon of tolerance to cold temperature, a trait
vital to rice grown in subtemperate areas and in tropical highlands. He and his team developed a
very successful working relationship with national counterparts from South Korea that led in the
development of cold tolerant rices for that country.
FARMERS PRIMER ON GROWING RICE

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However, he is best remembered for the Farmers Primer on Growing Rice, a richly illustrated
manual teaching ordinary farmers how to grow rice, and more importantly, explaining the
science behind the how.Interestingly, writing for farmers was not part of the usual terms of
reference of highly trained, sophisticated basic scientists like Dr. Vergara.
He wrote the Primer on his own time and initially published the booklet at his own expense in
partnership with Zac Sarian, the present Manila Bulletin agriculture editor, who himself then was
an aspiring young agriculture journalist in the employ of UP Los Baos.This Primer on Rice
Growing was very well received by rice growing countries and was subsequently adopted by
IRRI as an institutional publication. Over the years it was translated into 45 languages and
reprinted many times over. Thus, without meaning to, Dr. Ben Vergara became author of what is
regarded as one, if not, the worlds most widely read agricultural publication.
RICE MUSEUM AND PHILIPPINE SCIENCE HERITAGE CENTER
Dr. Ben was also a keen student of history and art and combined these interests in the more
purposive initiative of establishing museums as a powerful way of raising interest and awareness,
communicating and popularizing science.One of the best stops for students and domestic and
foreign tourists at Los Banos is the highly educational IRRI Rice Museum and Learning Center
which Dr. Ben conceived and caused to be established. The museum chronicles the history of
rice cultivation in Asia since 2,500 years ago and showcases the intricate and rich tapestry of art,
culture, language and tradition of the peoples of Asia intimately linked and built around the
seasons and ways of growing rice.As a leading member of the National Academy of Science and
Technology (NAST) he was also instrumental in the establishment and for many years the only
curator of the Philippine Science Heritage Center in the DOST compound in Taguig.
This museum which is dedicated to the crowning achievements of Filipino scientists is primarily
intended to inspire young people to follow their forebears footsteps and pursue careers in
science. Each year tens of thousands of school children visit the Center and learn about science
and the contributions of our own scientists in their discovery and development.
ORNAMENTAL HORTICULTURE
A plant lover through and through, Dr. Ben was a leading authority on ornamental horticulture
and had a significant influence in the growth and development of the sector. He was a key player
in the organization of the Los Banos Orchid Society and was its president so many times. For a
long while, the two-week long Los Banos Flower and Garden Show held to coincide with
UPLBs Loyalty Day on October 10 was a long-awaited event for flower and garden lovers in
the region.He collected, characterized, documented and photographed different varieties of
various ornamental shrubs and flowering plants and published them into beautifully illustrated
volumes.
Among these publications were monographs on Aglaonemas, Cordyline Ti plants, Sansevieras,
Heliconias and Crotons (San Francisco).An avid plant collector, he had a good eye for the
beautiful and the rare. From his many travels abroad he brought home these remarkable plant
introductions and multiplied them in his own plant nursery. Dr. Ben came to be known by

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hobbyists and garden enthusiasts as a reliable source of valuable novel ornamentals, flowering
plants and fruit trees.For the latter, he teamed up with Mama Sita, a leading condiment and food
manufacturer and introduced three highly successful new cultivars.
The first was a dual purpose banana cultivar which has stout dwarfish stems which make them
resistant to strong winds. The second was a highly prolific, very juicy calamansi variety which
has very few seeds. And the third was a sweet, dwarf and early fruiting macopa.There are more
about this many-splendored botanist. His last opus in November 2014 was the 100-year history
of the Church Among the Palms where he was a long-serving Elder and resident volunteer altar
flower arranger and landscape service provider.Dr. Emil Q. Javier is a Member of the National
Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) and also Chair of the Coalition for Agriculture
Modernization in the Philippines (CAMP).
For any feedback, email eqjavier@yahoo.com.
http://www.mb.com.ph/national-scientist-benito-s-vergara-the-many-splendored-botanist/#Qv3RVu5gJeQGtLyu.99

Government policy on Nigerian rice importation

TVC NEWS ( NIGERIA ) : The Nigerian
Maritime operators are calling on
government to reverse its rice
importation policy. They say that
Nigerians 110 percent tax policy on rice
is enriching neighboring economies in
the
west
and
central
African
regions.TVC Corresondent Ifunanya Eze
reports saying that Neighboring countries
in the region have cashed in on Nigerians
increased tariff on rice to boost their economies, by capitalizing on Nigerians huge market to
reduce their levies on imported rice.The result of the measures taken by these countries is that
Rice shipments meant for the Nigerian market are now being channeled through ports in the sub
region and then smuggled into Nigeria.
According to the chief executive officer of one of the terminals in Apapa port, Vicky Haastrop,
the prevailing situation is gradually crippling business activities at the terminal.In view of this,
port users are urging for a reversal of the tariff on rice considering that the country is losing huge
revenue to neighboring countries .The re-introduction of import duty payment on rice at land
borders, as ordered by the Comptroller general of Customs, retired Col.Hameed Ali, is
generating comments from port users.They say removing restriction on the rice import through the
land borders, may not stem smuggling, if the issue of the 10 percent duty and 60 percent levy is not
addressed.They also argue that given the latest directive would remove trade barriers and provide more
options for rice importers, it could be abused, if strict compliance is not
applied.http://tvcnews.tv/?q=article/government-policy-nigerian-rice-importation.

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