21st october ,2015 daily global regional local rice e newsletter by rice plus magazine

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Daily Global Rice e-Newsletter |

www.riceplusmagazine.blogspot.com

s

Daily Global Rice e-Newsletter October 21,2015 Vol 5 ,Issue XV

www.ricepluss.com www.riceplusmagazine.blogspot.com

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Rice News Headlines...

Senate, rice importers tango over N44b import duties ‗debt‘

Partnerships, key to farmer technology adoption and improved productivity

Scientists Team up with Farmers to Improve Organic Rice Production

Arkansas Farm Bureau Daily Commodity Report

World Market Price Subcommittee: PLC Payment Timelines and Trade

USARiceOutlook Contest: Week Two

CCC Announces Prevailing World Market Prices

CME Group/Closing Rough Rice Futures

Rice is nice: This plain grain is more nutritious than you think

Punjab farmers demand Rs 5000/quintal MSP for basmati rice

An introverted ―mad‖ scientist speaks candidly and makes no apologies

Partnerships, key to farmer technology adoption and improved productivity

Reflections on hospitality and stakeholder engagement

State U, partners push aerobic rice farming technology

Climate change lessons take to the stage in rural Pakistan

Pakistan's climate change 'time bomb' is already ticking

Rice: another dying commodity

Rice importers owe Nigeria N44bn – Senate

Scientists Team up with Farmers to Improve Organic Rice Production

Vietnamese ambassador seeks help from UC Davis to preserve country‘s rice crop

From Actress to Cookbook Author: The Lives of Madhur Jaffrey

Festive fare, anybody?

U.S. Rice Takes Center Stage at Food Service Show in Mexico


With organic rice in demand, scientists to help farmers improve production

New deal resumes rice exports to China

Philippines may import more rice after typhoon damages crops

Philippines says 'significant' rice losses from Typhoon Koppu

SunRice guarantee to growers

Jasmine fragrant rice to be developed as Vietnam‘s national rice brand

Rice quality key to export growth


Senate, rice importers tango over N44b import duties ‗debt‘

POSTED BY EMMANUEL LEKE ON OCTOBER 21,

2015 IN BUSINESS, ECONOMY, FEATURED | LEAVE A RESPONSE

The money has allegedly been outstanding since May 2014

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The Senate on Monday revealed that Stallion Group and

Olam International, two foreign companies involved in

rice importation into the country, are owing Nigeria a

whopping N44 billion in import duties.The money has

allegedly been outstanding since May 2014.However, the

two companies were quick to deny owing the country.The

Senate Adhoc Committee on Import Waivers, which is

probing the abuse of the policy in recent years, made its

position known when Stallion Group and Olam

international appeared before the Committee on Tuesday.The Chairman of the committee,

Senator Adamu Aliero, told the concerned importers that the government would not fold its

hands and watch the huge debt swept under the carpet.Aliero requested the companies to quickly

pay their debt.He said: ―There is no way the government will ignore this kind of money.

―We have to ensure that that this money is collected and deposited into the Federation Account.‖

The Chairman also revealed that the companies imported rice into the country without paying

waivers, off-loaded it into their warehouses only to refuse to pay required duties when asked by

the Nigeria Customs Service.According to him, when Stallion Group was accosted by the

Nigeria Customs Service for the money, the company opted to drag the NCS to court.Aliero also

disclosed how the company flouted the quota given to it to import 157,000 metric tonnes of rice

with impunity by opting to unilaterally import 457,000 metric tonnes.Responding to the

allegation, the Executive Director of Stallion Group, Harpreet Singh, claimed that its mission in

Nigeria was to ensure that the country was self-sufficient in rice production and equally ensure

that the nation is saved from scarcity of the product.

Singh also claimed that Nigerian borders were porous, adding that former President Goodluck

Jonathan granted the approval on fiscal policy on rice production on May 26, 2014.According to

him, the Ministry of Agriculture opted to flout the tenets of the policy by giving quotas to ―non-

existing millers and investors who have no connection with the policy, while existing investors

were left blind‖.Also reacting to the allegation, Olam informed that it had the largest rice farm in

Africa and that it has been operating in Nigeria in the past 35 years.The company argued that

given its long period of business operation in Nigeria, it would not consider shortchanging the

nation.In a report submitted to the Senate Committee, Stallion Group specifically underlined the

fact it had fully paid N17.15 billion in duties and levies for its imports and therefore has not

evaded anything due to the government.

Olam, on the other hand, claimed that it had the largest rice farm in Africa and that it had been

operating in Nigeria in the past 35 years, arguing that given its long period of business operation

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in Nigeria, the company will not consider shortchanging the nation and has filed a suit in the law

courts for determination.Stallion Group submitted on Tuesday that the rice import by its

companies were governed by the content and stipulations of the 2014-2017 fiscal policy

measures on rice by the federal government, and are not duty waivers as misunderstood by in

some quarters.

It stated further that rice production companies have applied to the country‘s courts to determine

if the additional retrospective duties meant for traders are payable by bonafide rice

millers.Stallion stated that it had no choice but to approach the country‘s judicial system for

relief and fair judgement.The company also assured the Senate Committee that the group will

duly abide by the court‘s final determination after a due process and is fully committed to the

country‘s quest for self-sufficiency in rice production.Olam also contended to the committee that

given its long period of business operation in Nigeria, the company will not consider

shortchanging the nation, and according to its representative, the company was seeking a legal

determination on the matter by the law courts.

http://theeagleonline.com.ng/senate-rice-importers-tango-over-n44b-import-duties-debt/

Partnerships, key to farmer technology adoption and

improved productivity By International Rice Research Institute October 20, 2015 | 12:30 pm EDT

The rising demand for rice in the Southeast Asian region puts

mounting pressure on the rice value chain stakeholders,

especially on smallholder farmers, to increase yield and

improve farm productivity.With this in mind, the ASEAN

Rice Future Forum, organized byBayer CropScience, in

partnership with the International Rice Research Institute

(IRRI) and the Vietnam Ministry of Agricultural and Rural

Development (MARD), brought together more than 100

policymakers and rice experts from across the ASEAN countries to discuss how public-private

and value chain partnerships are essential in encouraging the adoption of farming technologies,

and thus, improving food security.IRRI projects that the current rice production, which is more

than 700 million tons annually, will not be sufficient to meet future demands.

Over the next 10 years, rice production will need to increase by 80 million tons.At the

forum, Bas Bouman, director of the IRRI-led Global Rice Science Partnership, said that the

challenges experienced by the rice-farming sector should be viewed as opportunities to channel

impact in the right direction. ―If we do it right, it will lead toward land consolidation,

mechanization, and labor productivity increase. Farmers can have a decent income from farming

while, at the same time, we can keep the price of rice affordable for the poorest consumers,‖ he

explained.The forum, held on 14-16 October 2015, aims to continue the constructive dialogue

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that stemmed from the 2013 Rice Future Forum in India and the 2014 International Rice

Congress in Thailand.MARD Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh said that collaborative efforts and

partnerships formed by the Vietnamese government have helped advance the rice sector in the

country.

Sascha Israel, Head of Bayer CropScience in the Asia Pacific Region, emphasized the

importance of collaboration between public and private sectors across the value chain to enhance

rice technology adoption.Speaking on the economic transition and demographic changes in the

ASEAN region, Sam Mohanty, IRRI Social Sciences Division head, said that IRRI has a

significant role to play in shaping the future of the rice value chain. ―IRRI‘s breeding program

will be more demand-driven; we understand what is needed in the value chain, so we can

produce the variety or management practice that suits the market,‖ he added.

―Engaging with the public and private sectors can bring energy, know-how, and financing. It

could help us better leverage the technologies that IRRI has in the marketplace for the benefit of

smallholder farmers and the entire rice ecosystem,‖ said Remy Bitoun, IRRI's head of Public-

Private Engagement.The institute featured its work on rice innovations during the marketplace

session while engaging with various government officials, media, and private companies from

across the Southeast Asian region. Aside from the forum, Bayer CropScience also organized a

trip to its various field demonstration sites outside Ho Chi Minh City.

http://www.agprofessional.com/news/partnerships-key-farmer-technology-adoption-and-

improved-productivity

Scientists Team up with Farmers to Improve Organic Rice

Production

Tue, 10/20/2015 - 9:36am

Texas A&M Univ.

Organic rice is

increasingly

desired by U.S.

consumers, but

farmers know

that growing the

grain chemically

free can mean

providing a feast

for insects,

diseases and

weeds.That‘s

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why the U.S. Department of Agriculture has put $1 million on a multi-state team of scientists

with a track record of battling pests toward the goal of making organic rice profitable for farmers

and more available for consumers. The grant also establishes the first Center of Excellence for

organic rice research in the U.S. ―Organic rice is important to the U.S., and most of the organic

rice acreage is located in the southern growing region and California,‖ said Xin-Gen ―Shane‖‖

Zhou, Texas A&M AgriLife Research plant pathologist in Beaumont and project leader.

―Organic rice acreage has increased to about 50,000 acres in the nation. In contrast, conventional

rice acreage is on the decline.―The organic market is growing, but U.S. farmers have not been

able to keep up with the demand domestically.‖

While the price farmers receive for organic rice is nearly double what they get for conventionally

grown rice, Zhou said, producing an adequate yield of quality rice organically is

challenging.―Very little research has been done on organic rice, and organic studies on other

crops do not apply to rice because – unlike other crops – most of it is grown in flooded fields,‖

he said. ―That subjects rice to a different spectrum of disease, weeds and insect pests than

dryland or irrigated crops.‖Informal surveys to identify the issues affecting organic rice

production were conducted in California, South Carolina, Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas, he

said, along with field days, workshops and meetings with farmers, millers and end-users. This

helped the scientists identify nutrient management, pest control and rice varieties as the main

needs to make organic rice production economically viable.

The team on the 3-year study includes plant pathologists, breeders, crop nutrient managers,

economists, weed scientists, entomologists and outreach specialists from Texas, Arkansas and

Washington, D.C. Research on organic rice has been in progress at the AgriLife Research facility

in Beaumont for at least five years, Zhou said, and results from those studies, along with some

from other areas, will be parlayed into the new study.―We developed this new proposal to further

develop profitable methods for organic rice farmers,‖ he said. ―We surveyed organic farmers and

found the major issues were weed control, nitrogen supply and stand establishment. In organic

rice systems, we are not supposed to use any herbicides, chemical fertilizers, fungicides or

insecticides, so that definitely causes a lot of stress for the organic farmers.‖

For example, farmers would like to use less nitrogen fertilizer, because organic fertilizers are

much more expensive compared to conventional fertilizers. But applying organic nitrogen

improperly can give the weeds a chance to grow and compete with rice plants, he

explained.Also, diseases not commonly found in conventional rice are more severe in the organic

rice, Zhou added.The research farm at Beaumont is suitable for the study, Zhou noted, because it

met the criteria to be certified organic in 2012 and has been maintained as such since. The

facility also houses a collection of rice cultivars and breeding lines from around the world that

may be useful in finding the best varieties for organic production.Zhou said the team plans to

develop a strategy for organic rice production by the completion of the research and will develop

a web-based economic analysis tool with interactive budgets to help farmers make decisions for

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their own organic rice production. They also will have on-farm demonstration trials in Texas,

Missouri, Florida and South Carolina.

―We will have direct connection with organic rice farmers to show them what kind of

management practices or tools they can use for managing pests and for yield increase,‖ Zhou

said. ―Rice is important to the world, and the acreage devoted to rice is really too small in the

U.S. compared to the rice acreage in other countries. That‘s why the potential impact of this

project is so important.‖

http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2015/10/scientists-team-farmers-improve-organic-

rice-production

Arkansas Farm Bureau Daily Commodity Report

A comprehensive daily commodity market report for Arkansas agricultural commodities with cash markets,

futures and insightful analysis and commentary from Arkansas Farm Bureau commodity analysts.

Noteworthy benchmark price levels of interest to farmers and ranchers, as well as long-term commodity

market trends which are developing. Daily fundamental market influences and technical factors are noted and

discussed.

Soybeans

High Low

Cash Bids 901 856

New Crop 935 880

Riceland Foods

Cash Bids Stuttgart: - - - Pendleton: - - -

New Crop Stuttgart: - - - Pendleton: - - -

Futures:

High Low Last Change

Nov '15 907.00 894.50 905.25 +9.25

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Jan '16 911.25 899.00 909.50 +8.50

Mar '16 913.25 901.75 911.50 +7.50

May '16 916.25 905.75 914.75 +6.75

Jul '16 920.75 912.25 919.25 +6.00

Aug '16 917.00 914.00 918.00 +5.75

Sep '16 911.00 906.00 909.25 +4.75

Nov '16 908.75 901.00 907.00 +4.00

Jan '17 914.25 911.50 912.25 +4.00

Arkansas Daily Grain Report

FOB Memphis Elevator Crops

Soybean Comment Soybeans were higher today as export demand continues to improved. Demand remains the driver in soybeans,

and the market seems now to be ignoring forecasts of large supplies. At some point the market is going to

realize the large supplies, at which point soybeans will feel pressure and need exports and crush to still be

robust to avoid a major sell off.

Wheat

High Low

Cash Bids 481 471

New Crop 498 416

Futures:


Dec '15 497.50 490.25 494.75 +3.50

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Mar '16 503.50 496.75 501.25 +3.00

May '16 507.50 502.25 505.50 +2.75

Jul '16 510.00 504.00 507.75 +2.50

Sep '16 517.75 514.00 515.75 +2.00

Dec '16 532.00 528.00 529.75 +1.75

Mar '17 541.00 +1.25

May '17 541.25 +1.25

Jul '17 530.50 +1.25



Wheat Comment Wheat prices were higher today as support from outside markets helped pull wheat higher. Wheat remains a

weak market searching for some bullish news to help wheat maintain gains in a very volatile market.

Grain Sorghum

High Low

Cash Bids 386 319

New Crop 387 339



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Corn

High Low

Cash Bids 386 344

New Crop 405 374

Futures:


Dec '15 381.00 375.50 380.75 +4.00

Mar '16 390.75 385.25 390.25 +3.00

May '16 396.25 391.00 396.00 +2.50

Jul '16 400.50 394.75 400.00 +2.00

Sep '16 397.00 393.00 396.75 +0.50

Dec '16 404.25 400.00 404.00 +0.75

Mar '17 412.50 410.50 413.50 +0.75

May '17 418.50 418.50 419.50 +0.75

Jul '17 421.75 420.75 423.50 +1.00



Corn Comment Corn prices closed higher today. The market found support from reports of improved commercial buying. Corn

remains under pressure now from slow export demand, the good news for prices is ethanol demand continues

to track with current forecast as does feed demand. With the stronger dollar, it maybe difficult for exports to

catch up.

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Cotton

Futures:


Dec '15 64.66 63.65 64.23 0.45

Mar '16 64.49 63.6 64.05 0.39

Dec '16 64.44 64.02 64.10 0.22

Memphis, TN Cotton and Tobacco Programs

Cotton Comment Cotton futures were higher across the board today, with December moving above previous resistance at 65

cents. Continuing rains in Texas are slowing harvest and causing concerns about the quality of the crop there.

The supply of high quality cotton is tight, and is providing some support. Also supportive is news that the crop

in India and Pakistan will be short. However, the smaller crop there has caused prices to soar, and the All

World Price right along with them. That means the LDP for U.S. farmers has been cut in half over the past few

weeks.

Rice

High Low

Long Grain Cash Bids - - - - - -

Long Grain New Crop - - - - - -

Futures:


Nov '15 1229.0 1218.0 1226.0 +8.5

Jan '16 1258.0 1247.0 1255.0 +8.5

Mar '16 1283.0 1282.0 1282.0 +8.5

May '16 1306.5 +9.0

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Jul '16 1324.5 +9.0

Sep '16 1253.5 +9.0

Nov '16 1253.5 +9.0

Rice Comment Rice futures were higher again today. November continues to find support near $12, which is the 38%

retracement level. The recent rally has stalled and a round of profit taking quickly took $1.40 off the market

over the past two weeks. The market is still trending higher, however. Global production problems have helped

support the market since the summer. Disappointing U.S. yields have likely been built into prices at this point.

Cattle

Futures:

Live Cattle:


Oct '15 140.650 139.325 139.900 -0.350

Dec '15 143.700 142.225 143.150 -0.025

Feb '16 144.425 143.200 144.200 +0.175

Apr '16 143.300 142.000 143.075 +0.175

Jun '16 133.875 132.650 133.650 +0.375

Aug '16 131.025 130.225 131.025 +0.450

Oct '16 133.050 132.275 132.875 +0.375

Dec '16 134.250 133.400 133.900 +0.200

Feb '17 133.275 133.000 133.275 -0.025

Feeders:


Oct '15 194.925 193.500 194.300 -0.575

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Nov '15 192.875 190.900 191.600 -0.850

Jan '16 185.150 183.625 184.750 +0.375

Mar '16 181.175 179.600 181.150 +0.375

Apr '16 181.600 180.450 181.575 +0.425

May '16 181.550 180.100 181.325 +0.075

Aug '16 182.000 180.625 181.825 +0.225

Sep '16 180.075 180.075 180.950 -0.100

Arkansas Prices

Conway Livestock Auction

Pocahontas Livestock Auction

Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City - Weekly Weighted Average Summary Wednesday

Cattle Comment Cattle prices closed lower today as prices failed to close above resistance near $143 in live cattle and $192 in

feeders. With tomorrow's cold storage report being released after the market closes tomorrow look for prices to

be cautious ahead of this report.

Hogs

Futures:


Dec '15 68.775 66.650 67.325 -0.525

Feb '16 69.425 68.000 68.825 -0.025

Apr '16 72.225 70.875 71.775 -0.050

May '16 76.825 76.775 76.700 -0.100

Jun '16 79.925 78.825 79.525 -0.050

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Jul '16 79.200 78.600 79.000 -0.025

Aug '16 78.400 78.025 78.300 -0.275

Oct '16 68.825 68.300 68.500 -0.250

Dec '16 66.300 65.850 66.125 -0.175

Hog Comment

Shell Eggs Daily Midwest Regional Eggs

Daily New York Eggs

National Turkeys Weekly Weighted Average Prices for Whole Young Turkeys

Delmarva Broilers Daily Southern Broiler/Fryers

World Market Price Subcommittee: PLC Payment

Timelines and Trade

Double-checking the facts and figures

WASHINGTON, DC -- This morning, the World Market Price Subcommittee (WMP) met here

with representatives from the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), the Farm Service

Agency (FSA), the Economic Research Service (ERS), and the Foreign Agricultural Service

(FAS) to discuss a variety of issues in the global rice trade affecting the U.S. rice industry.While

reviewing recent reports of rice yield from NASS, Subcommittee members found projected

yields from Texas to be too high and those from California to be far too low. Members also

questioned FSA about the statistics of Price Loss Coverage (PLC) payments for the 2014 crop.

While payments under the new program were expected quickly and in-full this coming

November, FSA agreed to clarify its timeline and report back to USA Rice. (See USA Rice

Chairman Dow Brantley's comments on the topic.)

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The Subcommittee discussed global policy issues including details of the Trans Pacific

Partnership (TPP). Because the U.S. government has not yet released the official text of the deal,

possible ramifications for the U.S. rice industry are speculative at this point. The Subcommittee

was interested in what could be discovered about the deal between the U.S. and Japan, as well as

what duties will continue to exist between Mexico and Vietnam, as both countries, one a critical

destination for U.S. rice, the other a strong competitor, are also signatories to the TPP.

Chairman Keith Glover welcomed new participants onto the subcommittee for the 2015-17 term, and

afterwards said, "The meeting today was productive and educational. We appreciate the participation of

NASS, ERS, FSA, and FAS, and look forward to receiving clarification about the status of PLC payments

from the 2014 crop."The next World Market Price meeting will take place in February 2016, following

the close of the Government Affairs Conference (GAC).

Contact: Kristen Dayton (703) 236-1464

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USARiceOutlook Contest: Week Two

Paul Johnson (right) all smiles at the

John Pac packaging facility in Crowley, LA

ARLINGTON, VA -- Paul Johnson, a rice farmer from Welsh, Louisiana, is this week's finalist in the

#USARiceOutlook social media contest. A weekly winner will be announced every Wednesday until

November 4, and will be in the running for the grand prize of a free registration to USA Rice's Outlook

Conference in New Orleans December 9-11.

For contest eligibility, participants can retweet or share USA Rice's posts about the Outlook

Conference, or they can create their own original content using the hashtag #USARiceOutlook.

Members can share what they are looking forward to most at Outlook, which speaker they are

most excited about, their favorite part about New Orleans, etc. Creativity is encouraged!

"I'm really looking forward to the Outlook Conference in New Orleans this year," said

Johnson, a member of the 2015-2017 Rice Leadership Class. "We visited New Orleans during

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session one of the Leadership Program this past March and I'm excited to get back there and also

reconnect with everyone else from our Class at the conference."

Follow @usaricenews on Twitter for more exciting updates about the 2015 USA Rice

Conference and remember to tweet us using #USARiceOutlook!

Contact: Colleen Klemczewski (703) 236-1446

CCC Announces Prevailing World Market Prices

WASHINGTON, DC -- The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporationtoday announced

the following prevailing world market prices of milled and rough rice, adjusted for U.S. milling yields

and location, and the resulting marketing loan gain (MLG) and loan deficiency payment (LDP) rates

applicable to the 2015 crop, which will become effective today at 7:00 a.m., Eastern Time (ET). Prices

are unchanged from the previous announcement.

World Price MLG/LDP

Rate

Milled Value

($/cwt)

Rough

($/cwt) Rough ($/cwt)

Long Grain 14.92 9.42 0.00

Medium/Short Grain 14.43 9.68 0.00

Brokens 9.00 ---- ----

This week's prevailing world market prices and MLG/LDP rates are based on the following U.S. milling

yields and the corresponding loan rates:

U.S. Milling Yields

Whole/Broken

(lbs/cwt)

Loan Rate

($/cwt)

Long Grain 55.01/13.46 6.50

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Medium/Short Grain 61.81/8.43 6.50

The next program announcement is scheduled for October 28, 2015.


CME Group (Prelim): Closing Rough Rice Futures for October 21

Month Price Net Change

November 2015 $12.260 + $0.085

January 2016 $12.550 + $0.085

March 2016 $12.820 + $0.085

May 2016 $13.065 + $0.090

July 2016 $13.245 + $0.090

September 2016 $12.535 + $0.090

November 2016 $12.535 + $0.090

Rice is nice: This plain grain is more nutritious than you

think Rice up your life!

Rice is a complementary starch to highly nutritious foods like beans, fish, tomatoes and greens, and

whole grain rice is itself nutrient dense.

By: Theresa Albert Metro Published on Tue Oct 20 2015

Canadians won‘t sacrifice taste for health and are learning that healthy and tasty

can be inclusive when they take a bite out of the world around them. Rice is a

practical grain that goes with everything and is a healthier option than many other

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starches like nutrition-robbed peeled and boiled potatoes.According to a study

published in Food and Nutrition Sciences, rice consumption was associated with

better diet quality and general nutrient intake.Here are some more cool facts about

rice to spout at the water cooler:

Contrary to common thinking, rice can be

reheated. Cool and store covered in the fridge for

up to a week or freezer up to 6 weeks. Homemade

―minute rice‖ simply needs 2 Tbsp of liquid per

cup of rice added before warming it up in a

microwave or on the stovetop.Canada doesn‘t

grow rice, (wild rice is an aquatic grass) meaning

U.S.-grown rice is as local as it gets, which

explains why nearly 70 per cent of our rice is

from south of the border.One seed of rice yields

more than 3,000 grains. It is the highest yielding cereal grain and can grow in many kinds of

soils. This hits all the right notes for our sustainability quest.Winter-flooded rice fields provide

important habitat for migratory waterfowl and other species.

Across the U.S., hundreds of thousands of rice acres are being enhanced annually to provide

habitat for these birds. About 50 per cent of North Americans consume only half of the

magnesium that they should. Magnesium is critical for muscle function, the heart is the largest

muscle in the body. There is more magnesium in 1 cup of cooked long grain brown rice (21 per

cent DV) than in 3.5 cups of spinach (20 per cent DV), and it has 4 g of fibre.Theresa is an on-

camera food and health expert, nutritionist and writer who loves to spread the word on food.

http://www.metronews.ca/views/nutri-bites/2015/10/20/this-plain-grain-is-more-nutritious-than-

you-

think.html?utm_source=USA+Rice+Daily%2C+October+21%2C+2015&utm_campaign=Friday

%2C+December+13%2C+2013&utm_medium=email

Punjab farmers demand Rs 5000/quintal MSP for basmati

rice

The farmers are protesting against the low price and are demanding a Minimum Support Price

(MSP) of Rs 4200 to Rs 5000 per quintal from the government. 18 0Google +0 6 With untimely

and scare rains being observed in India, farmers in the agricultural state of Punjab are facing

huge issues with the declining price of Basmati rice. The oversupply of Basmati rice in

international markets, issues on quality and decreasing demand have all pushed down the price

of rice just when farmers were expecting it to fetch more. The farmers are protesting against the

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low price and are demanding a Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 4200 to Rs 5000 per quintal

from the government.

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/current-affairs/punjab-farmers-demand-rs-5000quintal-msp-for-basmati-

rice_3706721.html?utm_source=ref_article

An introverted ―mad‖ scientist speaks candidly and makes

no apologies

The IRRI Pioneer Interviews conducted by Gene Hettel | Oct 21, 2015

Dr. Robert S.”Bob” Zeigler is an internationally respected plant pathologist with more than 30

years of experience in agricultural research in the developing world, most of them involved with

rice. He has been the director general (DG) of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)

for the last 10+ years—the second longest tenure after the Institute’s founding DG, Robert F.

Chandler, Jr. (1960-72). As DG, Bob set the Institute’s strategic direction and he has also been

a passionate spokesperson on a wide range of issues that affect rice growers and consumers

worldwide.

Proclaiming himself an introvert, he gave this IRRI pioneer interview, conducted in his office at

IRRI headquarters on 28 August 2015. With his customary wit and candor, he discussed his life

both before and during his professional career, which has spanned time in Africa, Latin

America, Asia, and the U.S. He retires on 11 December 2015.

The selected excerpts here are just the tip of the “riceberg.” Much of the rest of Bob’s 4-hour

interview will soon be published on the Rice Today website. It will feature anecdotes about polar

bears and all-meat dinners above the Arctic Circle, studying forest fires in Crater Lake National

Park, what gives him goose bumps, and the wheels of the brilliant machine that is IRRI. He also

gives frank opinions and views on a wide-ranging set of topics—including Golden Rice, IRRI’s

proud Filipino roots, the funding roller coaster, the plight of smallholder farmers, the role of

women, the humbling experience of working with national programs, the Svalbard Doomsday

Vault, climate change, growing up Catholic, advice for the incoming DG, and much, much more.

Agricultural beginnings on Pennsylvania dairy farms

When I was a kid, both my parents came from dairy farming families. My father‘s farm was in

southeastern Pennsylvania; my mother‘s in the southwestern part of the state. I was mostly

influenced by my mother‘s side of the family. They were pretty much very small dairy farmers,

scraping to get by. I didn‘t realize that we were very poor. The men worked in the bituminous

coal mines of Cambria County.

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A fourth grader‘s wish: to be a mad scientist

Science always grabbed my attention as a kid. I was probably just wired that way. I loved plants.

My earliest memories are of me working with my mother. She always had a vegetable garden

and I just loved it when the plants came up, especially the first flowers in the spring. It just gave

me a sense of indescribable joy and a love of nature, life, plants, and gardens that I have to this

day.That led to a curiosity that transferred into science. I liked the 1950s‘ science fiction movies

such as The Killer Shrews and The Bride of Frankenstein. And, there were the comic book

superheroes such as Superman, Batman, and the rest. They had in them the good and the evil of

science wrapped throughout. I took the good and thought it was exciting. This was pretty

instrumental in shaping how I view the world. The mad scientist role was a career model. I could

be a mad scientist!

Biology was mind-blowing

After my family moved from Pennsylvania to

Illinois, I attended Urbana High School, where I

was exposed to biology in a way that was just

mind-blowing. I loved it. I really got turned on

by science in an academic way, as opposed to

the mad-scientist comic book/science fiction

movies. It helped change how I saw things in

the world.BOB‘S WIFE, Crissan [with him and

daughters Claire and Ali in Laos in January

2007], has always been an unbelievable

supporter. ―There is no way I could possibly have done

what I did without her support and role as a tremendous sounding board,‖ he says.

Based on what I did in high school, I enrolled at

the University of Illinois, where I ended up in an

Honors Biology Program that really changed the

course of my life. It was not the general premed

biology class with 300 students: eight or ten of us

were taught by four professors. I was attending a

large land-grant university with thousands and

thousands of students. However, it was akin to a

school like Harvard with small classes and outstanding teachers.I took a plant ecology field trip to Mexico

and was blown away again. I had never seen the ocean before. Mexico showed me a different culture with

snow-capped mountains and tropical beaches. In the cities, I could drink beer even though I was only 20

years old. I didn‘t have to worry about an ID; fantastic food—my God, I thought I‘d died and gone to

heaven! I came back from that trip transformed.

My professors urged me to go into molecular biology, as that was the clear wave of the future. I

thought about it, but the study of ecology better captured my love of nature. So, I did the

opposite of what they advised! As a result, I joined the Peace Corps in 1971 and was sent to

| 22



Africa—specifically, the very remote Congo (Zaire back then) because of my knowledge of

French.

In the Peace Corps, Dr. Zeigler taught (in French) high school math, chemistry, physics, and

biology at a little school, Collége Musim, in Bandundu Province about 200 kilometers north of

Kikwit

Peace Corps stint cultivates interest inplant disease

In the Peace Corps, I taught (in French) high school math, chemistry, physics, and biology at a

little school, Collége Musim, in Bandundu Province about 200 kilometers north of Kikwit[arrow

on map]. If you ―Google‖ Kikwit, the first thing you find is the Kikwit strain of Ebola, which

was 24 years after my time. I loved living in fascinating rural Africa.A transformative event was

an outbreak ofbacterial blight that wiped out the cassava crop [the third largest source of food

carbohydrates in the tropics, after rice and maize]. The main food for the people in my area was

wiped out. This was causing local starvation. We had to close our school; there was not enough

to feed my students. It really struck me that a plant disease, hitting a staple crop, could have such

impact and nobody could do anything about it.

Later, when I was a graduate student at Oregon State University, I took a forest pathology

course; I wanted to study the interaction in the forest of dwarf mistletoe parasitism, fire, and

pine forest community dynamics. This continued my turn-on to plant disease. The complexity of

plant disease in ecosystems, my exposure to its impact on cassava, and the real eye-opening

experience of living and working in a developing country [through the Peace Corps] all directed

my career from then on.

No ambition to be a director general

It‘s funny. I never, ever had an ambition to be a

director general. I, like most young, hungry

scientists, loved nothing more than to make fun

of the DG and to complain. My God, what we

said: ―Obviously, the director general does not

know a damn thing; what is he thinking, etc.‖ I

was very much an iconoclast who felt that

people in authority were pretty much

incompetent and didn‘t know what they were

doing. I made no secret about it and said it quite

openly. Surprisingly, I still had a job [as a plant pathologist at both the CIAT (International

Center for Tropical Agriculture) in Colombia and IRRI].

IN THE TRANSGENIC screen house at theBangladesh Rice Research Institute in Gazipur,

Bob confers with Bangladesh national program researchers on the latest work on Golden Rice in

the country.The first time the notion of being a DG was mentioned to me was in this office. I was

giving my exit interview to Ron Cantrell [then IRRI DG, 1998-2004]. I was going off

| 23



to Kansas State University to head the Plant Pathology Department. I didn‘t think I‘d ever be

back in an international center again. I thought I‘d be moving into U.S. academia, focusing on

agriculture there. Ron mentioned in passing that he saw a great future for me and, some day, I

could even be sitting in this chair. I thought, ―What, are you crazy?‖

At that time [1998], CGIAR DGs were gods and I certainly didn‘t have any god-impression

about myself. But, lo and behold, 6 years later, I was heading the CGIAR‘s Generation

Challenge Program based at CIMMYT [International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center

in Mexico]. There, a colleague who was a good friend of Ron Cantrell, told me that Ronnie was

resigning from IRRI and that he and Bob Havener [former IRRI interim DG in 1998] said they

thought that I‘d be one of the strong candidates for the position. To make a long story short, it

ended up being me. But it‘s something I never sought.

Not ―one of the boys‖ anymore

I was certainly one of the boys when I was here [as plant pathologist at IRRI, 1992-98]. In those

days, we had some wild, raucous times that will be best described by others.

ONE OF the boys at IRRI, circa 1993.

There were advantages and disadvantages in coming back [as

DG] after being away 6‒7 years. An advantage was that I

knew rice. I am the only director general of the Institute who

actually has had a career in rice. I understood the rice plant; I

understood the challenges around rice biology, agronomy,

and crop protection. I‘ve always had an interest in social

sciences. I had an administrative career in rice at CIAT and

at IRRI. I also had a pretty good appreciation of the culture

of IRRI. I knew ALL of the tricks that people pull on senior

management because I had pulled them all myself in

previous incarnations. I had a good relationship with most of

our partners across the region. I had a real appreciation for real potential for rice in Africa.

One disadvantage: I was friends with people [from the previous stint at IRRI] and that friendship

could get in the way of doing my job—and that was really hard. I had to let people go who I used

to play tennis with and socialize with. That‘s no picnic. Likewise, the direct expectations from

me that people could draw on a past relationship to get favors done made me uncomfortable, to

put it mildly. It was particularly hard for my wife. There were expectations that we could

magically transform real problems or challenges at the Institute with the snap of a finger. One

real education for me was how bureaucracies have a life of their own. More importantly,

problems in an institution are never in isolation. Almost always, they are interconnected with

more fundamental or structural problems. Hence, no quick fixes.I tried my very best to make

sure that the Institute itself, not the DG, is as sensitive and responsive as possible. One of the

things I tried to do, and I hope I‘ve been somewhat successful, was to take the personality cult,

the ―god‖ cult, out of the director: that we talk about the institution and not the DG.

Greatest challenges as IRRI chief

| 24



Convincing donors to contribute. One strength is the unassailable nature of IRRI‘s mission.

Keeping in mind what IRRI is about, why we‘re here, our track record, and our ability to

contribute made dealing with the challenges much easier. There are the usual challenges: one—

making sure that the money comes in. I still love explaining to donors how important rice is and

what IRRI‘s role is in the future of the world and what we have to contribute.

WHENEVER POSSIBLE, Bob visits farmers‘ fields around the world to interact with the

ultimate members of the private sector. Here, he diagnoses what disease might be afflicting a

smallholder‘s crop near Ubon, Thailand.

CGIAR nightmare. The CGIAR brings out the

worst in people. Some people you deal with one

on one are really nice, serious, and dedicated.

But, when you get them into the context of the

CGIAR, they‘re just horrible, myself included. I

think I turned into the meanest SOB you‘d never

want to meet when I put on my CGIAR hat. I

never thought about it in those terms until right

now. This morning, I had to write a message

related to the CGIAR that I didn‘t want to write.

I just find myself, in many cases, having to deal

with people who somehow survived in positions way beyond their capacity. It‘s just one endless

stream of frustrations. That‘s a real big challenge—to stay positive and keep IRRI working and

moving forward in the CGIAR environment, which in many cases is toxic.

Being an introvert. There is the challenge of me being an introvert. I am generally happier by

myself. People may be surprised about that, but I‘m a very strong introvert. Meeting the

challenge of being outwardly projecting was something I had to learn, including being gregarious

and dealing with people in social situations. Handling difficult personnel problems was always a

big challenge for me.

Discovery—one of the greatest joys

Oh the discovery! Realizing that you found something new is a thrill that can‘t be described. I‘ve

worked on hoja blanca virus, bacterial pathogens, the Pseudomonas complex, and blast

disease. In each, I like to think I made some significant discoveries and advances. The

realization, when it hits you—that you have an insight that explains something that was

unexplained before—there‘s nothing like it. It‘s a rush, I mean goose bumps; hair stands on end!

It‘s just a thrill. I think any scientist will tell you that ecstasy of discovery—of enlightenment—

when you have that flash of understanding—is indescribable. I had a few of those and, my God,

they‘re something else. Personally, it takes your whole being to a new level.

As a director general or research manager, I found it equally exciting to take pleasure from other

people‘s discoveries and breakthroughs, be it the SUB1 gene [for flood tolerance], advances

| 25



with C4 rice [transferring the photosynthetic efficiency of maize into rice], or new information

coming out of our long-term trials [Long-Term Continuous Cropping Experiment].

IN APRIL 2014, Bob assists in the ceremonial harvest of the 150th crop of IRRI‘s Long-Term

Continuous Cropping Experiment (LTCCE). Flanking him are Roland Buresh, soil scientist and

lead researcher for the LTCCE, and Teodoro Correa, Jr., LTCCE manager. The LTCCE is one of

the longest running agricultural experiments in the world.

No apologies for the Green Revolution

I believe that those who developed the modern rice and wheat varieties in the 1960s and ‘70s and

then recommended routine pesticide applications, etc., did not know that they were advocating

bad practices. In that sense, an apology is not necessary. You make an apology for things that

you do wrong when you knew they were wrong. And you judge the actions of people in the

context of their time. We certainly openly recognize it was a mistake and we have learned from

it.

If you look at how IRRI‘s research program has evolved from that learning, early on, we started

to question the impact of those early Green Revolution practices and took corrective action. This

resulted in ground-breaking studies on the biosphere within the rice paddy, arthropod

complexity, and the impact of insecticides.

| 26



Do we regret? I don‘t know. It was a different time and place. It‘s pretty hard to second-guess

these kinds of things. Apologize? No! Recognize that those practices were destructive to the

environment? Absolutely. Make sure that the same thing doesn‘t happen again? Absolutely. Be

watchful and vigilant of those who misuse tools for short-term gain? Absolutely.

Being at the helm of IRRI—no other job like it

The IRRI experience is number one in my career—without a doubt. The job as IRRI director

general is unlike any other job you can ever possibly want. Science, its value in human terms, the

impact you can have positively on the environment—you can transform the way the whole planet

will function decades from now, a century from now. What happens at IRRI is relevant.My God,

you can‘t ask for anything better or more humbling. If you are at IRRI and you work hard, do

your best, you will never have to worry about wasting your life. Every morning, when you look

in the mirror, you won‘t regret what is looking back at you. That‘s worth a hell of a lot!

After more than 22 years at IRRI, Gene Hettel, editor-in-chief of Rice Today and IRRI historian,

also retires shortly after Dr. Zeigler. Read more about IRRI’s rich history.

Partnerships, key to farmer technology adoption and

improved productivity

By International Rice Research Institute October 20, 2015 | 12:30 pm EDT

The rising demand for rice in the

Southeast Asian region puts

mounting pressure on the rice

value chain stakeholders,

especially on smallholder

farmers, to increase yield and

improve farm productivity.With

this in mind, the ASEAN Rice

Future Forum, organized

byBayer CropScience, in

partnership with the

International Rice Research

Institute (IRRI) and the Vietnam

Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development (MARD), brought together more than 100

policymakers and rice experts from across the ASEAN countries to discuss how public-private

| 27



and value chain partnerships are essential in encouraging the adoption of farming technologies,

and thus, improving food security.

IRRI projects that the current rice production, which is more than 700 million tons annually, will

not be sufficient to meet future demands. Over the next 10 years, rice production will need to

increase by 80 million tons.At the forum, Bas Bouman, director of the IRRI-led Global Rice

Science Partnership, said that the challenges experienced by the rice-farming sector should be

viewed as opportunities to channel impact in the right direction. ―If we do it right, it will lead

toward land consolidation, echanization, and labor productivity increase. Farmers can have a

decent income from farming while, at the same time, we can keep the price of rice affordable for

the poorest consumers,‖ he explained.

The forum, held on 14-16 October 2015, aims to continue the constructive dialogue that

stemmed from the 2013 Rice Future Forum in India and the 2014 International Rice Congress in

Thailand.MARD Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh said that collaborative efforts and

partnerships formed by the Vietnamese government have helped advance the rice sector in the

country. Sascha Israel, Head of Bayer CropScience in the Asia Pacific Region, emphasized the

importance of collaboration between public and private sectors across the value chain to enhance

rice technology adoption.Speaking on the economic transition and demographic changes in the

ASEAN region, Sam Mohanty, IRRI Social Sciences Division head, said that IRRI has a

significant role to play in shaping the future of the rice value chain. ―IRRI‘s breeding program

will be more demand-driven; we understand what is needed in the value chain, so we can

produce the variety or management practice that suits the market,‖ he added.

―Engaging with the public and private sectors can bring energy, know-how, and financing. It

could help us better leverage the technologies that IRRI has in the marketplace for the benefit of

smallholder farmers and the entire rice ecosystem,‖ said Remy Bitoun, IRRI's head of Public-

Private Engagement.The institute featured its work on rice innovations during the marketplace

session while engaging with various government officials, media, and private companies from

across the Southeast Asian region. Aside from the forum, Bayer CropScience also organized a

trip to its various field demonstration sites outside Ho Chi Minh City.

http://www.agprofessional.com/news/partnerships-key-farmer-technology-adoption-and-

improved-productivity

Reflections on hospitality and stakeholder engagement

Iris Bugayong | Oct 20, 2015

| 28



Partnerships between international research organizations and national agricultural research

and extension systems (NARES) are crucial in the development and successful adoption of

agricultural innovations. In this blog post, the author recounts her humbling experience as she

reflects on the hospitality of a NARES partner, which was indicative of strong stakeholder

engagement—a key ingredient in promoting collective action and getting things on the ground.

As I write this, I can slowly feel the burnout caused by the pre-event and event proper workload

of our project‘s recent major activities creeping in. Reporting back to the office to do my post-

event tasks and go back to the daily grind seemed overwhelming.My past jobs also involved

event management, and post-event assessments were usually done formally and immediately

after the closing session. The project I am currently part of is relatively small, and feedback is

given informally (usually it‘s just between me and my boss) so I normally do a self-reflection—

just a simple analysis of what went right, what went wrong, and how to do things better next

time.

As I was reflecting, I read an email from Dr. Bob Zeigler, our director general at the

International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), on how visitors are often impressed with the

Institute‘s smooth implementation of events. He was pertaining to how IRRI was able to pull off

some major events again during that week, particularly, the visit of the ASEAN Ministers of

Agriculture and Forestryand of a delegation from India to IRRI headquarters. He noted: ―It‘s

always so impressive how IRRI manages to pull these things off so well and seemingly with so

little effort. But we all know that an enormous effort goes into these kinds of events at all levels.‖

However, organizing events outside IRRI HQ—in another country —has its own challenges,

even though there are country offices (COs) to assist in coordination.

The IRRI-Japan Collaborative Research Project (IJCRP) has organized events held in Laos and

Indonesia during the past three years and staff from IRRI COs have been instrumental in the

planning and implementation of these events. The first in-country meeting of the new IJCRP,

titled Climate Change Adaptation through Development of a Decision-Support tool to guide

Rainfed Rice production (CCADS-RR) was jointly organized with staff of its major stakeholder,

the Indonesian Center for Rice Research (ICRR) at Sukamandi, where the meeting was held

alongside the Dryland Rice Network meeting.There are many event requirements that should be

planned and coordinated and I won‘t elaborate on the meeting venue and AV facilities of ICRR,

which I find exemplary and common for institutions under the Indonesian Agency for

Agricultural Research and Development(IAARD), and almost of the same caliber as those of the

Indonesian Center for Food Crops Research and Development (ICFORD) where we held another

event two years ago. What struck me most was the accommodation we received.

During the planning stage, Dr. Indrastuti Apri Rumanti, one of ICRR‘s seasoned breeders and

also lead event organizer, was hesitant to let us stay at the ICRR dormitory. However, a major

consideration was the proximity of the dormitory to the meeting venue, which is also inside the

ICRR compound (about 7 minutes by car and 15 minutes by foot from the dormitory). The

nearest hotel is about 30 minutes (depending on traffic) from ICRR. We decided then that it was

more practical to reserve our accommodations at the ICRR dormitory.

The dormitory at the ICRR, a 5-star accommodation in terms of hospitality!

| 29



Of course, I did not expect what seemed like a five-star accommodation, but I felt what VIPs

must feel when they visit IRRI from the moment

we arrived until we left. We heard that there was

a directive from Dr. Ali Jamil, ICRR director, to

ensure that we were given the best

accommodation possible.We were welcomed by

Dr. Indras and some ICRR staff. Our rooms,

though lacking the usual amenities of a hotel

(e.g., hot water, cable, and wi-fi), were well-

prepared. Our individual names were even

posted on the doors. There was 24-hour coffee

service located at the dormitory lobby. Meals

were served on time and we ate as the locals did—feasting on hot and spicy dishes. Our rooms

were cleaned and fresh towels supplied everyday.

I found serenity hearing the first prayer of the day from a nearby mosque at four in the morning

and by watching the birds perched on mangrove in the middle of a manmade pond (similar to

that at IRRI‘s rotunda) just outside the dormitory. Shuttle service to the meeting venue was

provided at 7:15 a.m. daily.

My view from the ICRR dorm—a serene pond. (Photo: Rozakurniati)

We were unable to take breakfast

on our last day as we had to leave

early, but we were given fresh

homemade donuts (tasted better

than Indonesia‘s popular donut

brand!) to enjoy on the way as we

headed to our next destination.

In the bigger scheme of things, the

absence of standard hotel

amenities is insignificant

compared with the hospitality

accorded to us by ICRR.There are

still many things to be done toward adoption by farmers of CCADS-RR‘s major output,

WeRise. WeRise is a seasonal climate prediction app that aims to help farmers make decisions

that will maximize rainfed rice production through efficient natural resource management. As

with any technology, good engagement of stakeholders will be crucial in promoting collective

action and moving things forward.

Feeling burned out after organizing events is normal, but what‘s important is getting back on

track. For me, this entails reflection—asking myself why I do the things I do, what keeps me

motivated. The hospitality of the ICRR was indicative of its strong support and, I‘d like to think,

was also a result of our efforts on engaging them, particularly at the onset of CCADS-RR‘s

project implementation. The thought is motivating enough. But the opportunity to work with

stakeholders who aim to ensure that research outputs reach the ground and achieve impact by

improving farmers‘ lives gives me the real sense of fulfilment.

| 30



Ms. Bugayong works as an Administrative Coordinator in the IRRI-Japan Collaborative

Research Project. She is taking up Master in Development Management and Governance at the

College of Public Affairs and Development at UP Los Baños. http://ricetoday.irri.org/reflections-on-hospitality-and-stakeholder-engagement/

State U, partners push aerobic rice farming technology October 20, 2015

KORONADAL CITY, South Cotabato, Oct 20 (PIA) — Government-run

Sultan Kudarat State University based in Tacurong City is advancing the adoption of

aerobic rice technology, a production system that is appropriate in areas with insufficient

water supply. Aerobic rice, according to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is ―a

production system where rice is grown in well-drained, non-puddled, and non-saturated soils.

Water requirements can be lowered by reducing water losses due to seepage, percolation, and

evaporation.‖ Dr. Ruby Hechanova, director for research and development of

SKSU told Philippine Information Agency that aerobic rice technology ―could help address

the problems of farmers regarding climate change such as El Nino‖ because

it requires minimum amount of water. ―Unlike in conventional farming where rice paddies

should be submerged in water, in aerobic rice technology rice can be grown even with only 10

percent soil moisture,‖ Dr. Hechanova said.

According to the Rice Knowledge Bank of IRRI, said farming system is suitable

in ―areas where the land is flat and where rainfall with or without supplemental irrigation

is sufficient to frequently being the soil water close to field capacity…‖ It is also fit in upper

slopes or terraces in undulating, rainfed lowland and water-short irrigated farms.Hechanova

added that aerobic rice researches conducted in rice fields at the tail-

end of irrigations systems in some parts of Luzon showed positive results. In 2014, she said,

SKSU started testing the aerobic rice technology in the towns of Quirino and Lutayan

and Tacurong City, all in Sultan Kudarat province. ―With appropriate management, yield from

aerobic rice is comparable to that from conventional farming,‖

she said. Aerobic rice technology is highlighted in 3rd Aerobic Rice National Conference at

the Sarangani Highlands in General Santos City from October 20 - 23.

The event highlights updates on aerobic rice technology and other potential water-saving

technologies for rice production. Paper presentations cover aerobic rice technology and related

research and development activities from leading institutions such as Bataan Peninsula State

University, Bulacan Agricultural State College, International Crops Research Institute for Semi-

Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Isabela State University and others. It is also an opportunity for

sharing of good practices on aerobic rice production.The 3rd Aerobic Rice

National Conference is supported by IRRI, ICRISAT, Department of Agriculture, Bureau of

Agricultural Research, Bureau of Soils and Water Management, Philippine Rice Research

Institute and the aforementioned state schools. Participants include academicians, researchers,

| 31



farmers, and representatives of government and nongovernment organizations. (DEDoguiles-

PIA 12) http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/1611445302179/state-u-partners-push-aerobic-rice-farming-

technology-#sthash.XWE1ni4T.dpuf

Climate change lessons take to the stage in rural Pakistan

BY AAMIR SAEED

BADIN, Pakistan, Oct 20 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Mir Muhammad's family had reason

to celebrate: after the harvest of their rice crop, they were planning to throw a wedding.But then

flash floods hit their three-hectare farm, washing away the family's sole source of income and

their dreams of the big day.This was the scene played out on the makeshift stage of an open-air

theatre in Badin district of Pakistan's Sindh province - a region, like many others in Pakistan,

trying to find ways to better understand and deal with worsening climate change impacts."Nature

has destroyed all our plans," lamented Zuleikha Bibi, who played Muhammad's mother in the

production.

"We were preparing for the wedding of our eldest son, but the flood has turned all our happiness

into mourning."An audience of over a hundred men, women and children from Badin's fishing

and farming communities watched as the actress wiped away her pretend tears. Then they

listened, engrossed, as a singer in traditional Sindhi dress sang about the sufferings of poor

people in the region.The show is the brainchild of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF), a non-

governmental organisation based in Karachi that works for the social and economic welfare of

vulnerable communities.Looking for a way to help villagers adapt to the effects of extreme

weather and flooding, the forum hit on the idea of putting on plays."We are using theatre as an

advocacy tool to educate people about the adverse impacts of climate change on their daily

lives," said PFF project manager Maria Soomro.

TAPPING LOCAL LANGUAGE AND TRADITION

In a region where the majority of the rural population is illiterate, theatre is an effective way to

communicate new ideas, Soomro said.Using local language, traditional songs and folklore, the

performances aim to raise awareness about issues such as shortages of water for agriculture,

erratic rainfall, frequent floods and droughts.On the stage in Badin, young actors told the

audience how extreme weather conditions in the province impacted on their studies."I was a

student in seventh grade and I had to quit my school due to flash floods last year," said Farzana

Bangash, 12. She urged the audience to find ways to mitigate the impact of flooding and erratic

rainfall on their crops.The messages, which began taking to the stage last year, appear to be

getting through.

Farmer Shagufta Bhel said that after watching a show in June last year, she and her family

stopped sowing genetically modified seeds for their wheat and rice crops, saying they feared they

would be less adaptable to increasingly extreme weather."We have been sowing local seeds

instead, and getting good yield too," she said.According to a recent report by the U.S.-based

| 32



World Resources Institute, floods in Pakistan affect 715,000 people each year, and by 2030 that

number could increase to as many as 2.7 million.Annual losses as a result of river flooding

amount to just short of 1 percent of Pakistan's GDP - about $1.7 billion - the report added."We

can't provide food to everybody affected by floods and droughts in the province but we can

definitely sensitise them to the issues," said the PFF's Soomro.The PFF put on its first open-air

play in June 2014 in Karachi and has since held over 20 performances in rural areas of six

districts of Sindh province. Each cast uses 15 volunteers, mostly local people, who get a week of

acting training before they start, Soomro said.

Using its own funding and working in collaboration with other NGOs, the forum plans to expand

its theatre project to other districts of the province.Experts agree that theatre is an effective tool

for making a topic as complex as climate change more easily understandable and relevant to a

wide audience."The beauty of open-air theatre is that it attracts a large audience for

entertainment and helps convey a critical message in the local language of the people," said

Sarwar Bari, national coordinator of the Pattan Development Organisation, an NGO in

Islamabad.Shafqat Aziz, a food security expert with Oxfam Novib, the Dutch affiliate of anti-

poverty charity Oxfam, said the plays also help empower people, motivating some to ask

government representatives for policies on issues such as food security and crop insurance.

"The awareness drives affected communities to a decision-making position and this is where they

try to come up with effective solutions for tackling climate change," he said.As the 30-minute

play came to an end on the Badin stage, one of the characters, a farmer named Sikandar Sanam,

turned to the audience to talk about seeds. One good adaptation strategy, he suggested, would be

for communities to store the seeds of native crop varieties."Our local seed varieties of rice and

wheat can tolerate floods and droughts," Sanam said. "So we should form a local seed bank to

preserve our own seeds, shouldn't we?"

The audience shouted in agreement. (Reporting by Aamir Saeed; editing by Jumana Farouky and

Laurie Goering :; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson

Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, women's rights, trafficking and

corruption. Visit www.trust.org/climate)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/20/pakistan-climatechange-theatre-idUSL8N12J2N720151020

Pakistan's climate change 'time bomb' is already ticking By AFP

Published: October 20, 2015

PHOTO: AFP

KARACHI: The sprawling megacity lies crumbling, desiccated by another deadly heatwave,

its millions of inhabitants suffering life-threatening water shortages and unable to buy bread

that has become too expensive to eat.It sounds like the stuff of dystopian fiction but it could be

| 33



the reality Pakistan is facing. With its northern glaciers melting and its population surging —

the country‘s climate change time bomb is already ticking.In a nation facing violence and an

unprecedented energy shortage slowing economic growth, the environment is a subject little

discussed.But the warning signs are there, including catastrophic floods which displaced

millions, and a deadly heatwave this summer that killed 1,200 people.Three of the world‘s

most spectacular mountain ranges intersect in Pakistan‘s north: the Himalayas, the Hindu

Khush and the Karakoram, forming the largest reservoir of ice outside the poles.

The mountain glaciers feed into the Indus River and its tributaries to irrigate the rest of the

country, winding through the breadbasket of central Punjab and stretching south to finally

merge with the Arabian Sea near Karachi.The future of Pakistan, a Muslim giant whose

population the UN predicts will surge past 300 million people by 2050, can be read in part by

the melting of glaciers like Passu, at the gateway to China.rom its magnificent rocky slopes,

the glacial melt is obvious.―When we would come here 25 years ago, the glacier reached that

rock up there,‖ explains Javed Akhtar, indicating an area some 500 metres from the tip of the

ice.Akhtar, his face bronzed by the sun, is a villager who has been employed by a team of

glaciologists measuring the impact of climate change.

Temperatures in northern Pakistan have increased by 1.9 degrees Celsius in the past century,

authorities say, causing ―glof‖ — glacial lake outburst floods, where the dams of such lakes

abruptly rupture, sending water cascading down the slopes.Today, thirty glacial lakes are under

| 34



observation in the north. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),

such mass loss of water is ―projected to accelerate throughout the 21st century, reducing water

availability, hydropower potential, and changing seasonality of flows in regions supplied by

meltwater from major mountain ranges‖.In Pakistan, most of the country is fed by the lush,

fertile plains of one such region: Punjab.Despite its growing population, Pakistan remains self-

sufficient in agricultural terms, largely thanks to the rich Punjabi soil.

But in recent years the region has seen unprecedented, deadly floods that wipe out millions of

acres of prime farmland. The disasters are caused by monsoon rains, but are a bellwether for

the havoc that melting glaciers could cause, with any variation in water levels threatening

farmers‘ crops.―When there is too much water it‘s not good for rice, and when there is not

enough, that‘s also bad. And it‘s the same for wheat,‖ says farmer Mohsin Ameen Chattha

during a walk through his family land just outside the Punjabi capital of Lahore.

Surplus monsoon water is mostly stored in Pakistan‘s two large reservoirs, the Tarbela and the

Mangla dams — but, warns Ghulam Rasul, director general of Pakistan‘s meteorological

department, the supply would hardly last 30 days.

―That is not sufficient,‖ he says.Throughout the rest of the year, farmers rely on the rivers,

primarily the glacier-fed Indus, to irrigate their land.For now, the production of rice and wheat

is still rising.But if the glaciers were to one day disappear, ―we would be totally dependent on

the monsoon. And already it varies,‖ says Rasul.―All this has an impact on food security‖ for

the country, he added.If its daily wheat production should no longer suffice, Pakistan would

have to begin importing the grain — driving the price of bread up.

Like the Indus, the ominous warning signs all culminate around Karachi.The city draws almost

all of its water from the river and already fails to meet even half of the four billion litres a day

its inhabitants require, in part because of its inadequate pump network and .By 2050 the IPCC

predicts a decrease in the freshwater supply of South Asia, particularly in large river basins

such as the Indus.That means Karachi will somehow have to manage its growing population

with even less water — a population with a significant poverty rate that will also struggle

should food prices rise.―In the long term, it is a huge challenge,‖ says Syed Mashkoorul

Hasnain of the Karachi Water Company.

To make matters worse, the meteorologist Rasul predicted changes in atmospheric pressure

over the Arabian Sea that could reduce the breezes that currently temper the sweltering heat of

the port.In June an unprecedented heatwave took 1,200 lives, mostly in poor neighbourhoods

of Karachi — heat traps with their massive concrete buildings, lack of shade, and the absence

of aqueducts.Could it have been a taste of the future? Back on the Passu Glacier, the research

assistant Javed Akhtar is unequivocal.―A calamity is coming,‖ he warns.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/976105/pakistans-climate-change-time-bomb-is-already-ticking/

| 35



Rice: another dying commodity

October 20, 2015

BR Research

At

46 percent of all Pakistan's food exports and over 8 percent of total exports, one would think that

the rice industry is given some importance. But much like the case with textile, wheat, and sugar,

a high cost of doing business and low international prices have rendered our rice exports

uncompetitive and stagnant.Rice exports observe a seasonal trend, falling by the end of the

summer and bottoming out around the time the new crop starts coming in the winter months

| 36



(September-October). As of late, however, the exports haven been bringing too much foreign

exchange; although rice exports for the first two months of this fiscal year represent a volumetric

growth over the preceding year, the price fetched seems to have been far lower.Vice President of

the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP), Noman Shaikh told BR Research that there

were two main reasons behind the industry's problems: one was the international commodity

crisis, which is out of everyones hands. However, the other factor is the high cost of doing

business, which is rendering the rice exporters uncompetitive and is a result of government

inadequacies.

Shaikh said there are 5 lac tons of un-exported rice in stock, which is losing moisture by the day

and losing its value. About the high cost of business, he said that electricity and gas is far more

expensive in the region than the neighbouring countries and the supply is also interrupted.

Moreover, he lamented that fertilizer in Pakistan is available for Rs2400 per bag, whereas in

India the same is Rs800-900. With such high costs, it is increasingly difficult to compete in a

market where the prices are already so low."No research has been done since the 70s into

developing new varieties," the REAP Vice President added. "Meanwhile, India has developed

new varieties that are also cheaper, and has snatched up the International market."Indeed, its a

disappointment that most of the Gulf countries, Pakistan used to export its Basmati variety have

been lost. REAP has asked the government to provide a $200 per ton subsidy on Basmati rice

and $50 per ton subsidy on IRRI-6 to get rid of the surplus stocks and rejuvenate the industry.

http://www.brecorder.com/br-research/44:miscellaneous/5910:rice-another-dying-commodity/Olam

International, Other

Rice importers owe Nigeria N44bn – Senate By Naija247news

The Senate ad-hoc Committee on Import Duty

Waivers on Monday accused two foreign

companies, Messrs Stallion Group and

Olam International, which are involved

in rice importation into the country, of

owing Nigeria N44bn as import duties on

457,000 metric tonnes they imported

since May 2014.The panel stated this

when the representatives of the two firms

appeared before it to answer their

connection with the ―flagrant abuse of

rice waivers‘ policy in the country.‖

Chairman of the committee, Senator

Adamu Aliero, demanded full payment of the money owed by the foreign firms, insisting that

―Nigeria would not fold its hands and watch the huge debt swept under the carpet. ‖He said:

―There is no way the government will ignore this kind of money. We have to ensure that this

| 37



money is collected and deposited into the federation account.‖Aliero further claimed that the

comanies imported rice into the country without paying waivers, off-loaded it into their

warehouses and refused to pay required duties when asked by the Nigeria Customs Service.

He noted with concern that while the Nigeria Customs Service confronted Stallion Group with

payment demand notices, the firm opted to drag NCS to court.He also accused the company of

exceeding the quota given to it to import 157,000 metric tonnes of rice, saying it imported

457,000 metric tonnes in excess of its required quota.But while defending the action of his firm,

Executive Director of Stallion Group, Harpreet Singh, claimed that their mission in Nigeria was

to ensure that the country was self-sufficient in rice production.He also said the firm had planned

that the nation is saved from the global scarcity of the commodity.He also claimed that Nigerian

borders were porous and that former President Goodluck Jonathan granted the approval on fiscal

policy on rice production on May 26, 2014.According to him, the Ministry of Agriculture opted

to flout the tenets of the policy by giving quotas to ―non-existing millers and investors who have

no connection with the policy while existing investors were left blind.‖

He claimed further that the Stallion Group‘s investments in Nigeria were not giving jobs to

foreigners but to Nigerians.He said his company had lost millions of Naira to activities of

smugglers as a result of porous borders.Also speaking, Olam, through his spokesperson, Ade

Adefeko, claimed that it had the largest rice farm in Africa and that it has been operating in

Nigeria in the past 35 years.He argued that given its long period of business operation in Nigeria,

the company would not consider short-changing the nation.According to him, Olam was seeking

a legal opinion on the matter, saying whatever counsel it is given, it will be duly followed.

http://naija247news.com/2015/10/olam-international-other-rice-importers-owe-nigeria-n44bn-

senate/

Vietnamese ambassador seeks help from UC Davis to

preserve country‘s rice crop

BY STEPHEN MAGAGNINI

[email protected]

Vietnam‘s ambassador to Washington, Pham Quang Vinh, visited the Sacramento region

Tuesday to promote trade and educational exchanges, and to further his country‘s long-standing

relationship with UC Davis.Scientists at the University of California, Davis, have for years

assisted Vietnamese universities and farmers in an effort to sustain the Mekong Delta‘s rice

basin, ―known for productivity and the quality of rice,‖ Vinh said. ―That area is suffering

because climate change is causing the sea level to rise,‖ he said Tuesday.Vinh said he also hopes

to tap into the university‘s expertise in biotechnology and engineering.In a wide-ranging

conversation hosted by Sacramento City Councilman Allen Warren, who has been to Vietnam

and is hosting a civic delegation there next month, Vinh said the communist country has evolved

over 20 years of diplomatic relations with the U.S.

| 38



―The new Vietnam is very dynamic,‖ Vinh said. ―More than half the population is under 30, 40

percent of the 91 million people have Internet, 28 percent are on social media and there are 128

million mobile phones, so some people have two.‖ A decade ago, he said, nearly a third of

Vietnamese lived in poverty – now it‘s down to 4.5 percent, and per capita income has risen

from about $200 a year to $2,000.The Sacramento region‘s roughly 32,000 Vietnamese

Americans include many who fled communism after the fall of Saigon 40 years ago and remain

critical of Vietnam‘s human rights record. They still use the name Saigon for Ho Chi Minh City,

and some are pressing for the day when there are free, multiparty elections and freedom of

speech and dissent.Vinh acknowledged those sentiments, but insisted things are improving. ―We

have a one-party system, that‘s a fact, but we have a constitution and everybody‘s equal before

the law.‖There are more than 17,000 Vietnamese students studying at U.S. universities,

including more than 5,000 in California and hundreds at UC Davis, Vinh said.

And the doors of trade are opening wider. In 2012-13, Vietnam imported $333 million worth of

agricultural products from California, and in 2014, California exported $1.2 billion in

manufactured goods to Vietnam.On Tuesday, Vinh met with about 75 students and faculty at UC

Davis, many of them Vietnamese. He fielded questions about why some U.S. investors are

having problems doing business in Vietnam. He cited as progress the state‘s move earlier this

year to allow foreign companies to own 100 percent of the equity in Vietnamese firms.―Vietnam

has always been a little bit sensitive around Vietnamese American populations, not knowing

what it will encounter, and this is the first time an ambassador from Vietnam has visited a

California university and extended himself to students,‖ said Kieu-Linh Caroline Valverde, an

associate professor of Asian American Studies at UC Davis, who hosted the meeting. ―He said

they can help Vietnam create a better future.

‖More than 40 professors from Vietnam have already come to UCD under a program funded

through the Vietnamese government, said Jim Hill, associate dean emeritus of International

Programs for the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and a rice researcher.

About 20 or more UC Davis professors and academic scholars have spent time helping at

Vietnam National University of Agriculture, Nong Lam University and other schools, he

said.Warren said he extended the invitation to Vinh, who was making his first trip to the

Sacramento region, to promote the area as a place to invest and visit.―We‘re an international city,

one of the most diverse in the country,‖ Warren said.

The next step will be to encourage Vietnamese to invest in Sacramento, said Chris Worden, vice

president of public policy at the Sacramento Metro Chamber, who attended a meeting with the

ambassador and Warren at Sacramento City Hall. ―It will take some additional steps to get large

direct foreign investment from Vietnam, but we are sprinting forward to get the pieces in place,‖

Worden said. ―A vibrant Vietnamese community locally coupled with continued investment

from other Southeast Asian nations are key factors in our economic development.‖Accompanied

by his wife and diplomatic staff, Vinh also visited city officials in Los Angeles and San

Francisco. He plans to meet with Gov. Jerry Brown in San Francisco on Wednesday.

Stephen Magagnini: 916-321-1072, @StephenMagagnini

| 39



Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article40542273.html#storylink=cpy

From Actress to Cookbook Author: The Lives of Madhur

Jaffrey

BY MICHELE KAYAL, ASSOCIATED PRESS

Oct 20, 2015, 12:44 PM ET

Madhur Jaffrey is known to Americans — when she is known at all — as an author of Indian

cookbooks. And with good reason: she has written more than two dozen of them.But that's just

the start. The woman often called "the Julia Child of Indian cookery" was born in Delhi, India,

and came to the United States in the late 1950s, eventually landing among the New York

glitterati. She started her career as an actress — something she continues to do — but soon found

herself deeply rooted in the world of food. She has hosted cooking shows both here and in

Britain, and helped launch the renowned New York Indian restaurant Dawat.Now 82, her newest

book, "Vegetarian India: A Journey Through the Best of Indian Home Cooking," will be released

in October. We took the opportunity to talk with her about acting, her start in food, and her

pivotal friendship with filmmakers Ismail Merchant and James Ivory. The conversation has been

edited for clarity and length.Associated Press: What was the impetus for "Vegetarian India?"

Why this book and why now?

Madhur Jaffrey: I've never done a book that's all Indian and all vegetarian. There are many areas

of India that I don't know and many cuisines I don't know, and I thought this would be a good

way to learn about the cuisines I don't know anything about.AP: When you came to the United

States in the late 1950s, you landed first in Vermont, where you taught pantomime, correct? How

did that happen?

Jaffrey: I needed a job. I was in the theater and was very kindly employed by the Catholic

University theater team. They said "Why don't you come in the summer and work with our

summer stock company," which used to live in Winooski, Vermont. I joined the company to do

odd jobs with them. And get a visa. It was a technical way of coming.

AP: And from there you went to New York City. What were you hoping to find there?

Jaffrey: The theater brought me to New York. (My first husband) Saeed (Jaffrey) also studied at

Catholic. He graduated and came to New York and I came with him. I was working as a guide at

the U.N. at the time, and doing theater in the Village. We were doing off-Broadway. The way I

could stay was to have a visa by working at the U.N. Then I could do theater, for which I was

earning something like $10 a week.

AP: You and Saeed also introduced Ismail Merchant and James Ivory, the famous film duo. How

did that come about?

Jaffrey: We were the only Indian actors in town at that time. Ivory had just done his first film —

it was a short film — called "The Sword and the Flute," about Indian miniature paintings. And

| 40



he needed someone to narrate that. He went to see (Saeed's) play and asked him to do it. That's

how Saeed brought him home for the first time. We all became very good friends.

Around the same time, Ismail Merchant was here, studying at (New York University) business

school. He met us because he had dreams of doing theater, films, anything. He just wanted to be

famous. He wasn't sure how he was going to be famous, but it was going to be in the world of

film and theater. His first idea was to get an Indian dancer and have her perform at Radio City

Music Hall.

His dreams were so big. And to us ridiculous. But to him, everything was achievable. He brought

that spirit of great adventure and far-sightedness to our little group.

AP: I imagine the Indian community in New York was very small at that time. Did everyone

know each other? What was it like?

Jaffrey: All those (Indians) who came were doctors and statisticians and engineers. America

wasn't taking people who weren't these things because that wasn't what was needed. We were

very rare, these people in the arts. We knew all the people in the arts because that's where our

interest lay. We knew the Indians who were around and other people who were actors but weren't

Indians. It was an intellectual bookish, artish world.

AP: Were you fully embraced by the non-Indian art scene?

Jaffrey: As curiosities, yes. But as somebody to give work to, no. It was very hard to get work.

That's why we needed other jobs, all of us. I am in the art world; I have one daughter who's an

actress, one who is a writer. The actress daughter has the same problem I did. But she is two

steps ahead. Indians now are more in shows. People are writing more parts for Indians and they

can play non-Indians. In "House of Cards," my daughter played a Latino. (In my time) they never

thought of us as secretaries or lawyers. We were just Indians, and they were always the shieky

types. They came vaguely from the Middle East.

AP: What do you make of Mindy Kaling and Aziz Ansari and Indians on Pizza Hut

commercials?

Jaffrey: It's changing. This new generation is getting much more work. My daughter's generation

and her friends — all of these people you mention — she knows all these people because they've

all been at it together for a long time.

AP: You once told the BBC you wanted to be the next Marlon Brando. What did that mean?

Jaffrey: Everybody dreams of saying "Thank you so much for the Academy Award." But I left

India with dreams of being another Marlon Brando. I adored his method of acting and I adored

him. I had met him in India when he was passing through. I thought, "I want to have that

intensity, that depth." That you go into a part and you really find it inside you, and it comes out

in this glorious rich form that it did with Marlon Brando. But there wasn't the opportunity. There

just wasn't.

AP: How and why did you transition from theater to cooking?

Jaffrey: I said, "What else could I do to make money?" (I was getting divorced.) I had three little

kids. I had no future. English literature was my major in college. I could write. I started writing

about any subject that they wanted. Then one day, Holiday Magazine, which was a big magazine

at that time, hired me to do a story about what I ate as a child in India. I did the story.

I had just done the (Merchant-Ivory) film "Shakespeare Wallah," so my name was about. Then

(New York Times food editor) Craig Claiborne did an article about me. That was Ismail's doing.

He had the ability to get to know anybody he wanted. He must have walked up to him at some

| 41



point and said, "You must do an article about this woman who appears in my wonderful film."

After that story things took off.

AP: You've published roughly 30 cookbooks. But you've never really stopped acting. You've

appeared in film, television, on stage, and you're still acting today. Are you an actor who cooks,

or a cook who acts?

Jaffrey: I always say, "I'm an actress who cooks." I see myself as an actress.

AP: How do you think others see you?

Jaffrey: Totally differently. Some people say, "Oh you still act?" They're not aware of that aspect

of my life.

———

BERRY PILAF

"The restaurant where this pilaf is served has been in existence since 1923. It is a Bombay

landmark," Madhur Jaffrey writes in her new cookbook, "Vegetarian India." ''The berry used

here is the tiny Iranian barberry, or zareshk, sold by Indian and Persian grocers. If you cannot

find it, use dried cranberries. The final flavors are sweet and sour."

Start to finish: 4 hours (30 minutes active)

Servings: 6

2 cups basmati rice

1 teaspoon saffron threads

3 tablespoons sugar, divided

3 tablespoons very hot milk

About 1/2 cup barberries or dried cranberries

3 tablespoons olive or peanut oil

1 large yellow onion, peeled and halved lengthwise, then sliced into fine half rings

1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt

5 cardamom pods

2 1/2-inch cinnamon stick

1 bay leaf

3 cloves

3 tablespoons butter, melted

Wash the rice in several changes of water. Put in a bowl, cover generously with water, then set

aside to soak for 3 hours.

Meanwhile, in a mortar and pestle, combine the saffron and 1 tablespoon of the sugar. Pound

together to create a fine powder. Transfer to a small bowl, then stir in the hot milk. Set aside for

3 hours.

Toward the end of the 3 hours, rinse the berries several times, then leave to soak in water for 20

minutes. Drain and pat dry.

In a medium skillet over medium-high, heat the oil. When the oil is hot, add the onion and cook

for 5 minutes, or until they start to brown. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to cook

until they are reddish brown. Add the drained berries and the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Stir

once or twice, then remove from the heat.

Heat the oven to 325 F.

Bring about 10 cups of water to a boil. Add the salt, cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, bay leaf

and cloves. Stir once, then add the rice. Let it cook in the boiling water for about 5 minutes, or

until it is three-quarters cooked but still has a thin, hard core. Drain in a colander.

| 42



Working quickly now, spread 1 tablespoon of the melted butter in a medium baking dish. Spread

half the rice over it. Spread another tablespoon of the butter, plus half the saffron mixture and

half the onion-berry mixture and some of its oil on top of the rice. Spread the remaining rice on

top of the first layer. Pour the remaining tablespoon of butter over it, followed by the remaining

saffron mixture and onion-berry mixture.

Cover tightly with foil and a lid and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and

let sit undisturbed for 10 minutes. Toss the rice gently to mix before serving.

Nutrition information per serving: 410 calories; 110 calories from fat (27 percent of total

calories); 13 g fat (4.5 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 15 mg cholesterol; 170 mg sodium; 68 g

carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 12 g sugar; 6 g protein.

(Recipe adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's "Vegetarian India," Knopf, 2015)

Abc News

Festive fare, anybody? MOUSHMI KISHORE

Try these delicious easy-to-prepare recipes

It‘s the season of festivities, and here are some delectable reasons to celebrate. Festival food

customs speak dimensions of our rich culture. Traditional

recipes are passed on from one generation to another. It‘s

food preparation that marks the commencement of any

festival. Durga Puja celebrates shakti, the mother goddess,

and this continues for over a week; preparation begins much

earlier. Here are a few easy-to-prepare ‗Bhog‘ recipes

which are presented every day to goddess durga during the

week. Moong Dal Khichuri

Ingredients: 1 cup basmati rice

1/2 cup split moon dal (yellow)

1/2 inch-piece cinnamon

1 bay leaf

2-3 green cardamom

| 43



3-4 cloves

A pinch of asafoetida

1 potato

1/4cup green peas

1 tomato

1/4 cup cauliflower florets

2 tspn ginger paste

1/2 tspn turmeric powder

1 tspn red chilli powder

2 green chillies slit

1/2 tspn cumin seeds

Salt to taste

Ghee for cooking

Method: Wash and soak rice and dal separately for half an hour. Heat ghee in a pressure cooker; add

cloves, cardamom, cinnamon stick, bay leaf and sauté for a few seconds. Add asafoetida.

Add cumin seeds and let them crackle.

Add ginger paste, green chillies, turmeric and red chilli powder. Add a few drops of water,

vegetables and salt. Saute for a few minutes.

Now add rice and dal and sauté for a minute. Add water till it‘s half an inch above the rice-dal

mixture. Pressure-cook for three whistles or till soft and cooked well. Tomato Chutney

Ingredients: 3 tomatoes chopped

4-5 dates (deseeded)

1tspn mustard seeds

2 dry red chillies

50 gms jaggery powder

1 tspn ginger paste

2 tspn raisins

Salt to taste

Oil for cooking

Method: Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and allow it to crackle.

Now add red chillies and salt.

Add chopped tomatoes, dates and raisins, and cook till they are soft and done.

Dates should merge well with the tomatoes.

Add ginger paste and mix. Now add jaggery, cook on a low flame till the jaggery is melted and

chutney comes together. Baingan Bhaja

Ingredients: 1 big brinjal

1 tbspn turmeric powder

1 tbspn red chilli powder

| 44



2-3 tbspn mustard oil

2 tbspn lemon juice

Salt to taste

Method: Cut brinjal into medium slices (round). Use a fork and punch a few holes. Take some mustard oil

in a bowl, add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt and lemon juice and make a marinate

paste. Smear the marinade generously over the brinjal slices. Heat a non-stick tava or a griddle.

Add a few drops of mustard oil. Place these marinated brinjal slices, cover them with a plate and

cook over a low flame for 3-4 minutes or till brown and crisp on one side. Flip these and let the

other side cook. Serve hot. Payesh

Ingredients: 1 cup any fragrant rice

6 cups milk

2 cups coconut milk

2 tbspn chopped nuts

2 cups sugar (adjust to taste)

1/2 cup jaggery powder

2-3 green cardamom

1 bay leaf

Method: Wash rice and keep aside. Boil milk. When the milk stars to boil, add rice. Stir continuously and

check if rice is cooked. When the rice is almost done, add sugar and jaggery. Keep stirring

continuously to avoid sticking at the bottom of the pan. Add chopped nuts, cardamom and bay

leaf. When the payesh is ready, transfer into a bowl and refrigerate for a few hours. Serve chilled

garnished with coconut crust.

Keywords: Moong Dal Khichuri, Baingan Bhaja, Tomato Chutney http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/Food/festive-fare-anybody/article7784971.ece

U.S. Rice Takes Center Stage at Food Service Show in

Mexico

At the USA Rice workshop with

Chef Alejandro Espinosa (in black)

PUERTO VALLARTA, MEXICO -- Earlier this month, USA Rice was a sponsor of Vallarta-Nayarit

Gastronomica, a premier trade show here that attracts gastronomic personalities from all over Mexico as

well as top international chefs. These food service professionals gather to participate in live cooking

shows and specialized workshops, and to propose culinary innovations for their peers at culinary

| 45



institutions throughout Mexico.

Many of the chefs used U.S. rice during their cooking demonstrations before a foodservice audience of

more than 1,200. Chef Jorge Jurado from Panama used U.S. parboiled rice as the main ingredient in the

dishes he prepared on stage as well as in the Panama booth in the exhibition area of the event. Two

renowned Spanish chefs, Michelin Star Chef Kisko Garcia, and Chef Eva Millán, discussed the

importance of using U.S. rice in restaurants and hotels citing its versatility.

USA Rice offered specialized rice workshops conducted by Chef Alejandro Espinosa who has vast

experience cooking rice in some of the top restaurants and hotels around the world.

"Rice is extremely versatile and has great profit margins for a variety of dishes," said Chef Espinosa.

"We prefer parboiled rice in the foodservice sector and are very supportive of the use of the Authentic

American seal to signal the high quality of the product."

USA Rice regularly participates in trade shows throughout Mexico to showcase U.S. rice to a wider

audience, gather new trade contacts, and learn about new food trends.

Contact: Sarah Moran (703) 236-1457

| 46




CME Group (Prelim): Closing Rough Rice Futures for October 20

Month Price Net Change

November 2015 $12.175 + $0.070

January 2016 $12.465 + $0.075

March 2016 $12.735 + $0.070

May 2016 $12.975 + $0.070

July 2016 $13.155 + $0.055

September 2016 $12.445 + $0.030

November 2016 $12.445 + $0.030

With organic rice in demand, scientists to help farmers

improve production October 20, 2015

Organic rice is increasingly desired by U.S. consumers, but farmers know that growing the

grain chemically free can mean providing a feast for insects, diseases and weeds. Now a

multi-state team of scientists with a track record of battling pests is working toward the goal

of making organic rice profitable for farmers and more available for consumers.

| 47



Dr. Shane Zhou is leading a $1 million study on organic rice farming.

Credit: Kathleen Phillips

Organic rice is increasingly desired by U.S. consumers, but farmers know that growing the grain chemically free can mean providing a feast for insects, diseases and weeds.

That's why the U.S. Department of Agriculture has put $1 million on a multi-state team of scientists

with a track record of battling pests toward the goal of making organic rice profitable for farmers and

more available for consumers. The grant also establishes the first Center of Excellence for organic

rice research in the U.S.

"Organic rice is important to the U.S., and most of the organic rice acreage is located in the southern

growing region and California," said Dr. Xin-Gen "Shane"" Zhou, Texas A&M AgriLife Research plant

pathologist in Beaumont and project leader. "Organic rice acreage has increased to about 50,000

acres in the nation. In contrast, conventional rice acreage is on the decline.

"The organic market is growing, but U.S. farmers have not been able to keep up with the demand

domestically."

While the price farmers receive for organic rice is nearly double what they get for conventionally

grown rice, Zhou said, producing an adequate yield of quality rice organically is challenging.

| 48



"Very little research has been done on organic rice, and organic studies on other crops do not apply

to rice because -- unlike other crops -- most of it is grown in flooded fields," he said. "That subjects

rice to a different spectrum of disease, weeds and insect pests than dryland or irrigated crops."

Informal surveys to identify the issues affecting organic rice production were conducted in California,

South Carolina, Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas, he said, along with field days, workshops and

meetings with farmers, millers and end-users. This helped the scientists identify nutrient

management, pest control and rice varieties as the main needs to make organic rice production

economically viable.

The team on the three-year study includes plant pathologists, breeders, crop nutrient managers,

economists, weed scientists, entomologists and outreach specialists from Texas, Arkansas and

Washington, D.C. Research on organic rice has been in progress at the AgriLife Research facility in

Beaumont for at least five years, Zhou said, and results from those studies, along with some from

other areas, will be parlayed into the new study.

"We developed this new proposal to further develop profitable methods for organic rice farmers," he

said. "We surveyed organic farmers and found the major issues were weed control, nitrogen supply

and stand establishment. In organic rice systems, we are not supposed to use any herbicides,

chemical fertilizers, fungicides or insecticides, so that definitely causes a lot of stress for the organic

farmers."

For example, farmers would like to use less nitrogen fertilizer, because organic fertilizers are much

more expensive compared to conventional fertilizers. But applying organic nitrogen improperly can

give the weeds a chance to grow and compete with rice plants, he explained.

Also, diseases not commonly found in conventional rice are more severe in the organic rice, Zhou

added.

The research farm at Beaumont is suitable for the study, Zhou noted, because it met the criteria to

be certified organic in 2012 and has been maintained as such since. The facility also houses a

collection of rice cultivars and breeding lines from around the world that may be useful in finding the

best varieties for organic production.

Zhou said the team plans to develop a strategy for organic rice production by the completion of the

research and will develop a web-based economic analysis tool with interactive budgets to help

farmers make decisions for their own organic rice production. They also will have on-farm

demonstration trials in Texas, Missouri, Florida and South Carolina.

"We will have direct connection with organic rice farmers to show them what kind of management

practices or tools they can use for managing pests and for yield increase," Zhou said.

"Rice is important to the world, and the acreage devoted to rice is really too small in the U.S.

compared to the rice acreage in other countries. That's why the potential impact of this project is so

important."

| 49



http://phys.org/news/2015-10-rice-demand-scientists-farmers-

production.html?utm_source=USA+Rice+Daily%2C+October+20%2C+2015&utm_campaign=Friday%2C+December+13%2C+

2013&utm_medium=email

In Mauritius, Gourmet Rice Points to a Brighter Future By CHRISTOPHER F. SCHUETZEOCT. 19, 2015

That's why the U.S. Department of Agriculture has put $1 million on a multi-state team of

scientists with a track record of battling pests toward the goal of making organic rice

profitable for farmers and more available for consumers. The grant also establishes the

first Center of Excellence for organic rice research in the U.S."Organic rice is important

to the U.S., and most of the organic rice acreage is located in the southern growing region

and California," said Dr. Xin-Gen "Shane"‖ Zhou, Texas A&M AgriLife Research plant

pathologist in Beaumont and project leader. "Organic rice acreage has increased to about

50,000 acres in the nation. In contrast, conventional rice acreage is on the decline.

"The organic market is growing, but U.S. farmers have not been able to keep up with the

demand domestically."While the price farmers receive for organic rice is nearly double

what they get for conventionally grown rice, Zhou said, producing an adequate yield of

quality rice organically is challenging."Very little research has been done on organic rice,

and organic studies on other crops do not apply to rice because – unlike other crops –

most of it is grown in flooded fields," he said. "That subjects rice to a different spectrum

of disease, weeds and insect pests than dryland or irrigated crops."

Informal surveys to identify the issues affecting organic rice production were conducted

in California, South Carolina, Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas, he said, along with field

days, workshops and meetings with farmers, millers and end-users. This helped the

scientists identify nutrient management, pest control and rice varieties as the main needs

to make organic rice production economically viable.The team on the three-year study

includes plant pathologists, breeders, crop nutrient managers, economists, weed scientists,

entomologists and outreach specialists from Texas, Arkansas and Washington, D.C.

Research on organic rice has been in progress at the AgriLife Research facility in

Beaumont for at least five years, Zhou said, and results from those studies, along with

some from other areas, will be parlayed into the new study.

"We developed this new proposal to further develop profitable methods for organic rice

farmers," he said. "We surveyed organic farmers and found the major issues were weed

control, nitrogen supply and stand establishment. In organic rice systems, we are not

supposed to use any herbicides, chemical fertilizers, fungicides or insecticides, so that

definitely causes a lot of stress for the organic farmers."For example, farmers would like

to use less nitrogen fertilizer, because organic fertilizers are much more expensive

compared to conventional fertilizers. But applying organic nitrogen improperly can give

the weeds a chance to grow and compete with rice plants, he explained.Also, diseases not

commonly found in conventional rice are more severe in the organic rice, Zhou added.

| 50



The research farm at Beaumont is suitable for the study, Zhou noted, because it met the

criteria to be certified organic in 2012 and has been maintained as such since. The facility

also houses a collection of rice cultivars and breeding lines from around the world that

may be useful in finding the best varieties for organic production.Zhou said the team

plans to develop a strategy for organic rice production by the completion of the research

and will develop a web-based economic analysis tool with interactive budgets to help

farmers make decisions for their own organic rice production. They also will have on-

farm demonstration trials in Texas, Missouri, Florida and South Carolina."We will have

direct connection with organic rice farmers to show them what kind of management

practices or tools they can use for managing pests and for yield increase," Zhou said."Rice

is important to the world, and the acreage devoted to rice is really too small in the U.S.

compared to the rice acreage in other countries. That's why the potential impact of this

project is so important."

Michael Teig Rountree, whose family has farmed sugar on Mauritius since the early 19th century, has

started growing Mighty Rice on the plantation. CreditChristopher F. Schuetze

RIVIÈRE DES ANGUILLES, Mauritius — In tropical Mauritius, where the change of seasons is

muted, the blooming sugar cane flower is a sure indicator of the beginning of another

autumn.The sugar cane and its seasonal fireworks — a sudden explosion of dusty color just

| 51



above the 3-meter-high, or 10-foot-high, cane — have been a big part of island life since the 17th

century. Dutch colonizers started growing sugar cane for the production of arrack, a strong, clear,

distilled liquor they had discovered in Southeast Asia.Sugar became the island‘s biggest industry

— first as raw material for distillers, then as a commodity shipped around the world. Even into

the 1970s, sugar represented roughly 95 percent of Mauritian gross domestic product, and cane

was grown on a third of the island‘s land.But fierce global competition, the rise of new cane-

growing superpowers — China, Pakistan and Brazil — and waning preferred treatment from the

European market have taken their toll on sugar prices. Although still grown on about a fourth of

the island, sugar this year will represent only about 1 percent of the island‘s G.D.P. Photo

A sugar field owned by Medine, whose diversification efforts include growing vegetables for local

consumption. CreditChristopher F. Schuetze

This perfect storm is leading sugar cane farmers here to look for ways to shore up their income,

and their future. While some smaller farmers have simply abandoned their land, larger

commercial farms are starting to look for alternatives — from tourism to real estate sales to,

increasingly, higher-value crops that can be sold around the world at premium prices.―No one is

talking about giving up sugar,‖ said Michael Teig Rountree, who runs Bel Air, a 390-hectare, or

965-acre, sugar farm that has been in his family since his ancestors emigrated from Ireland in the

early 19th century. ―Sugar cane has had its ups and downs. But it‘s quite different this time.

| 52



‖Having tried livestock feeds like alfalfa, soybeans and corn, Mr. Rountree, whose farm sits on

the lush southern side of the island, stumbled on something promising: a premium rice, destined

for health-conscious and well-off consumers in Europe and the United States.While Mighty Rice,

as it is called, was developed by cross-pollination in Bangladesh, its slick black-and-white

packaging exalts the volcanic soil and rain-fed streams of Mauritius — marketing the benefits of

the place it is grown as much as the food.The rice, which is grown on dry land and so can be

easily integrated into traditional farms, yields between four and six tons per hectare at a fixed

price to farmers of $800 per ton, earning them as much as $4,800 per hectare. Sugar, by contrast,

has an average yield of eight tons per hectare.

At this year‘s price of $360 a ton, that comes to $2,880 per hectare.The retail price for Mighty

Rice is higher as well. On the shelves of the California supermarket chain Raley‘s, a 15-ounce

bag sells for $4.99, which is seven to eight times more than the price for the same quantity of

white cane sugar in the same store.―When we started growing rice here, the people thought we

were insane,‖ said Herman Suhirman of Vita Rice, a Mauritian company that started growing

Mighty Rice in 2009 on its own 400-hectare farm, which was formerly the site of a state-owned

sugar farm. This year‘s harvest will be his third to be available commercially, and already there

are early signs of success. The company has produced 1,470 tons of rice in one year and is

poised to sell some 40,000 15-ounce bags in the United States — so far its main export market.

The rice carries a certification guaranteeing that it is not genetically modified and free of arsenic

— the latter a potential contaminate in other commercially available rice.While the rice is not yet

certified as organic, Mauritian rice farmers are taking no chances, fertilizing their fields with

molasses to avoid anything that could affect the end product.―We are looking for soft options‖

for pest control and fertilization, said Bill Hoare, an Australian who runs Vita Rice‘s rice farm.

―It‘s cheaper and it‘s better for the rice.‖=Premium rice is just one of the products farmers

around the world are using to replace commodity crops, said Luis A. Ribera, a professor in the

Department of Agriculture at Texas A&M University. The state of Tamaulipas in Mexico, for

example, has all but abandoned dry hay, corn and other row crops for irrigated vegetables

destined for supermarket shelves in the United States. In some cases vegetables replacing row

crops or cane in Central and South America are grown organically and sold at a premium.

―As crop land is reducing, population is increasing and purchasing power from both developed

and developing countries is on the rise, more and more emphasis is given to demand-driven

production,‖ Mr. Ribera wrote in an email.Sophie Desvaux de Marigny, the head of

communication at Medine, once one of the largest commercial sugar plantations in Mauritius,

agreed. When a case brought to the World Trade Organization in 2004 first threatened the

guaranteed price of Mauritian sugar on the European market, Medine, which owns farmland

covering 5 percent of the island, decided to revamp its business, establishing separate property

and leisure clusters and detailing a 25-year master plan.Although Medine‘s sugar and rum are

still exported — the company is even actively reclaiming fallow land to expand its agriculture

division — it now grows vegetables for local consumption, rents out office space, runs a resort

village and attracts international tourists to its nature safari park.

| 53



―At this point you want to produce something value-added,‖ Ms. Desvaux de Marigny said.The

Mauritius Sugar Syndicate, which represents local sugar growers and millers abroad, has

invested in marketing so-called special sugars — various shades and grain sizes of brown cane

sugar — that can be sold directly to consumers and commands a premium price.Lately the

syndicate has been promoting Fairtrade sugar, of which it hopes to export 40,000 tons next year,

a little less than 10 percent of all Mauritian sugar sold abroad. ―The next phase is goingto be all

about sustainability,‖ said Devesh Dukhira, who runs the syndicate.Now in his second year of

growing Mighty Rice, Mr. Rountree has planted about 63 hectares of the crop on his farm. The

rice, which stands no taller than half a meter when fully mature, is dwarfed by the surrounding

cane, but it allows the passer-by to look out past the field to palm trees, mountains and the light-

blue Indian Ocean.Remarking how nice such a view must appear to tourists, Mr. Rountree said:

―It‘s almost as if the rice is a solution for problems we didn‘t even know we

had.http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/20/business/energy-environment/in-mauritius-gourmet-

rice-points-to-a-brighter-

future.html?_r=0&utm_source=USA+Rice+Daily%2C+October+20%2C+2015&utm_campaign

=Friday%2C+December+13%2C+2013&utm_medium=email

New deal resumes rice exports to China Tue, 20 October 2015

Post Staff

Cambodia inked a new deal last week to export 100,000 tonnes of rice to China, according to

local state media AKP.The new rice quota, which will begin in early 2016, was announced on

the sidelines of Prime Minister Hun Sen‘s visit to China last week.The deal comes six months

after the Ministry of Commerce expressed interest in April to double its rice shipments to China

from 100,000 tonnes to 200,000 tonnes. http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/new-deal-resumes-rice-exports-china

Philippines may import more rice after typhoon damages

crops Tuesday, 20 October 2015 11:59

Posted by Parvez Jabri

MANILA: The Philippines could be forced to import more rice after Typhoon Koppu hit major

grain producing regions over the weekend causing "significant" losses, a senior agriculture

official said on Tuesday.Official preliminary estimates on losses stood at around 412,000 tonnes

of paddy rice, accounting for about 5 percent of the government's forecast fourth quarter harvest

of 7.95 million tonnes. A final figure is expected in around a week."If you ask me if we need to

import more, I would say 'yes', but up to what volume and when, I don't know," Edilberto de

Luna, Department of Agriculture assistant secretary for field operations, told Reuters on

Tuesday."This is a significant volume because the typhoon hit our major rice-producing

provinces."Powerful typhoon Koppu ploughed into the northeastern Philippines before dawn on

| 54



Sunday destroying homes and displacing thousands of people.

The Southeast Asian country remains one of the world's biggest buyers of rice, with imports

approved for delivery this year reaching nearly 1.8 million tonnes, mainly from Vietnam and

some from Thailand, two of the world's top suppliers.Prior to the typhoon, the country's National

Food Authority Council had already been assessing the need to import 1 million tonnes of rice

next year on top of 500,000 tonnes approved for the first quarter.The typhoon losses add to those

from a dry spell induced by the El Nino weather phenomenon, forecast to intensify this quarter

and extend until the second quarter of 2016.

Rice output in the third quarter was likely slightly lower than initially projected due to the dry

spell, pest attack and typhoons, while stocks had shrunk steadily for four straight months starting

May.But de Luna said that rains brought by Koppu had filled up water-starved dams, which

should allow rice farmers to begin planting soon without worrying too much about water access.

Total crop losses from the typhoon, including those for rice, corn and other crops, were initially

valued at 6.3 billion pesos ($137 million), he said.Corn losses were "minimal" at about 5,000

tonnes because harvesting was finished before Koppu's arrival, de Luna added.

http://www.brecorder.com/world/global-business-a-economy/257735-philippines-may-import-

more-rice-after-typhoon-damages-crops.html

Philippines says 'significant' rice losses from Typhoon Koppu

Photo: AFP

MANILA - Around 412,000 tonnes of unmilled rice that has yet to be harvested may have been

damaged by Typhoon Koppu when it hit the Philippines' major grain producing regions during the

weekend, a senior agriculture official told Reuters on Tuesday. The initial estimate on rice crop

losses was a "significant"volume and may prompt food security authorities to import more of the

| 55



staple food, said Edilberto De Luna, Department of Agriculture assistant secretary for field

operations.

That accounts for about 5 percent of the government's forecast for total paddy rice output of 7.95

million tonnes for the December quarter, based on its July survey of farmers'planting intentions.

http://news.asiaone.com/news/asia/philippines-says-significant-rice-losses-typhoon-

koppu#sthash.teFaaJVv.dpuf

SunRice guarantee to growers

THE WEEKLY TIMES

OCTOBER 21, 2015 12:00AM

Rice price promise: SunRice announce price guarantee for the first time since drought amid low Riverina

water allocations. Picture: Andy Rogers

SUNRICE has announced an upfront guaranteed price for this year‘s rice crop amid concerns about water

allocations in the NSW Riverina.The company said last week it would pay growers $415 a tonne for

reiziq rice, $545 for koshihikari and up to $655 for organic rice for the 2016 crop, which is currently

| 56



being sown.It is the first time since the drought years of 2008-10 that SunRice has guaranteed a price

before planting.Farmers don‘t normally have an indicative price but receive the first pool estimates and

partial payment in about April when they harvest.SunRice chairman and Moulamein grower Laurie

Arthur said the price guarantee was made after a ―crisis of confidence‖ among rice growers last month

because of low water allocations for the main rice-growing regions.The NSW Government last week said

the Riverina‘s Murray Valley general security water allocation would increase from 6 to 12 per cent and

the Murrumbidgee Valley allocation from 27 to 29 per cent.

Mr Arthur said SunRice decided to offer a strong price guarantee to ―give our growers the confidence to

plant‖.Rice Growers Association president Jeremy Morton said members wanted certainty about their rice

price.―Allocations are low and some (growers) will have to go to the temporary market to supplement

their water,‖ Mr Morton said.He said the announcement would give growers confidence to plant rice

before the end of the sowing window in about four weeks.

http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/agribusiness/cropping/sunrice-guarantee-to-growers/story-fnker6ee-

1227576033486

Jasmine fragrant rice to be developed as Vietnam‘s national

rice brand

VietNamNet Bridge - The Vietnam Food Association (VFA) has decided that Jasmine, a type of fragrant rice, will be developed

into the country’s national rice brand.

Vietnam is well known as one of the largest rice exporters in the world which mostly exports

low- and medium-end rice at low prices. Vietnamese farmers grow rice of different varieties.

Harvested rice is sold by farmers to merchants, who buy rice from different sources, then mix the

rice before selling to food companies for export.However, VFA has decided to develop Jasmine,

a high-quality fragrant rice variety into the nation‘s rice brand. VFA‘s chair Huynh The Nang

said it would be not an easy task to build up a national rice brand. However, when considering

the structure of the rice exports in the last few years, VFA recognized that the fragrant exports

account for an increasingly high proportion of total exports.Eight years ago, fragrant rice just

accounted for 3 percent of total rice exports.

However, the figure soared to 26 percent in the first nine months of the year.VFA believes that

developing an existing fragrant rice variety into the national brand is the best way for Vietnam to

increase its brand recognition in the world market. Jasmine is the best choice among fragrant rice

varieties.According to Nang, Vietnam previously could sell fragrant rice at $460 per ton, but the

price has been increasing rapidly recently. Vietnamese exporters now can sell fragrant rice at

$600 per ton.However, Nang admitted that it would take a long time to turn the idea into reality,

though Vietnam‘s Jasmine rice is very delicious and has high quality.In order to make fragrant

| 57



rice for export, Vietnam would have to organize production on a large scale, and cannot rely on

farmers‘ small-scale cultivation.

Nang, who is also the general director of the Southern Food Corporation (Vinafood 2), one of

two of Vietnam‘s largest rice exporters, said Vinafood 2 is planning to join forces with some

other enterprises to organize the fragrant rice production in accordance with the large-field

model for export.Some days ago, sources said Vinafood 2 was considering teaming up with Loc

Troi Group, formerly the An Giang Plant Protection JSC, to implement the project.Nguyen

Trong Thua, a senior official from the agriculture ministry, said a lot of work would need to be

done to develop the nation‘s rice brand, from choosing varieties to organizing production,

harvesting, processing and preservation.Vietnam began exporting rice in 1989, but it still does

not have a national brand, which is believed to be the reason why the country‘s rice is inferior to

exports from other countries in importers‘ eyes.

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/143662/jasmine-fragrant-rice-to-be-developed-as-vietnam-s-

national-rice-brand.html

| 58



Rice quality key to export growt

Workers at Hau River Food Company in the southern Can Tho Province load rice for export. —

VNA/VNS Photo Dinh Hue

HA NOI (VNS) — Viet Nam's rice exports have seen positive growth in the first quarter of

2015, but production needs to be restructured with rise in quality of trading and reputation, said

experts.They said the demand for traditional rice export markets of Viet Nam has seen a

recovery, such as a contract to export 450,000 tonnes of rice to the Philippines.

Huynh Minh Hue, deputy chairman of the Viet Nam Food Association, said Viet Nam has signed

commercial contracts to export 1.3 million tonnes of rice and centralised contracts on shipping

1.5 million tonnes of rice in six months.However, Le Thanh Khiem, deputy director of the Tien

Giang Food Company, said Viet Nam should focus on increasing the quality of exported rice

rather than the volume to enter the high value export markets such as Europe and Japan that

place high demand on quality for imported rice, Vietnamplus reported.Meanwhile, Deputy

Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said Viet Nam's export quality rice still expects

traditional and centralised export markets.

The agricultural sector needs to restructure production and business of rice to improve product

quality and build a trademark. These actions will help local rice producers and traders to avoid

losses when the demand for imported rice drop.Vo Thanh Do, deputy head of the Department of

| 59



Processing and Trade for Agro-forestry-Fisheries Products and Salt, said Viet Nam has more

than 200 medium- and large-scale enterprises exporting rice, but Vietnamese rice is rated among

the medium and low segments on the world market. The nation has seen low volume in exports

of high export quality rice.

In addition, while Viet Nam is one of the top three rice exporters on the world, the nation has not

seen a national rice brand name so far, Do said, while Thailand and India have had many export

quality rice products with national brand names.Moreover, Viet Nam has not chosen rice

varieties for stable development in the long term, Khiem said. Most of Vietnamese rice varieties

were developed in the short term and then were degraded.Therefore, Viet Nam's rice need to face

strong competition in quality and brand names with potential rivals such as Cambodia, Myanmar

and the United States.Nguyen Duc Thanh, director of the Viet Nam Institute for Economic and

Policy Research (VEPR), said if Viet Nam focusses on the easy markets, the nation will reduce

its quality standards in production and export of rice.

The competitive ability of Vietnamese export quality rice will reduce more and more on the

global market.When free trade agreements with foreign partners come into effect in the future,

Viet Nam's rice industry will not have the power to change its quality to gain any advantage from

the agreements.So, Viet Nam needs to restructure its rice production and business right now. The

restructuring could bring rice output down but strongly raise the value and brand name of

Vietnamese rice in the future, Thanh said.The prime minister has approved a plan for the

development of Viet Nam's rice brand by 2020 onwards to 2030. Under the plan, Viet Nam will

have a brand name for 20 per cent of its national total rice export volume by 2020 and be a part

of the global value chain. The percentage will increase to 50 per cent in 2030.According to the

VFA report, Viet Nam shipped over 4.3 million tonnes of rice worth US$1.95 billion abroad till

September 2015, down 9.12 per cent in terms of volume and 14.3 per cent in value compared to

the same period last year. — VNS

http://vietnamnews.vn/economy/277320/rice-quality-key-to-export-growth.html


October 20, 2015

KORONADAL CITY, South Cotabato, Oct 20 (PIA) — Government-run Sultan Kudarat

State University based in Tacurong City is advancing the adoption of aerobic rice technology, a

production system that is appropriate in areas with insufficient water supply. Aerobic rice,

according to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is ―a production system where rice

| 60



is grown in well-drained, non-puddled, and non-saturated soils. Water requirements can be

lowered by reducing water losses due to seepage, percolation, and evaporation.‖ Dr. Ruby

Hechanova, director for research and development of SKSU told Philippine Information

Agency that aerobic rice technology ―could help address the problems of farmers regarding

climate change such as El Nino‖ because it requires minimum amount of water. ―Unlike in

conventional farming where rice paddies should be submerged in water, in aerobic rice

technology rice can be grown even with only 10 percent soil moisture,‖ Dr. Hechanova said.

According to the Rice Knowledge Bank of IRRI, said farming system is suitable in ―areas

where the land is flat and where rainfall with or without supplemental irrigation is sufficient to

frequently being the soil water close to field capacity…‖

It is also fit in upper slopes or terraces in undulating, rainfed lowland and water-short irrigated

farms.Hechanova added that aerobic rice researches conducted in rice fields at the tail-end of

irrigations systems in some parts of Luzon showed positive results. In 2014, she said, SKSU

started testing the aerobic rice technology in the towns of Quirino and Lutayan and Tacurong

City, all in Sultan Kudarat province. ―With appropriate management, yield from aerobic rice

is comparable to that from conventional farming,‖ she said. Aerobic rice technology is

highlighted in 3rd Aerobic Rice National Conference at the Sarangani Highlands in General

Santos City from October 20 - 23. The event highlights updates on aerobic rice technology and

other potential water-saving technologies for rice production.

Paper presentations cover aerobic rice technology and related research and development

activities from leading institutions such as Bataan Peninsula State University, Bulacan

Agricultural State College, International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics

(ICRISAT), Isabela State University and others. It is also an opportunity for sharing of good

practices on aerobic rice production. The 3rd Aerobic Rice National Conference is supported

by IRRI, ICRISAT, Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Agricultural Research, Bureau of

Soils and Water Management, Philippine Rice Research Institute and the aforementioned state

schools. Participants include academicians, researchers, farmers, and representatives of

government and nongovernment organizations. (DEDoguiles-PIA 12)

http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/1611445302179/state-u-partners-push-aerobic-rice-farming-

technology-#sthash.hhXhAJRf.dpuf

21st october ,2015 daily global regional local rice e newsletter by rice plus magazine

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