27th July (Monday),2015 Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine

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

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July 27, 2015 Vol 5 ,Issue VII



The Trans-Pacific Partnership issues in-depth

By DOUG PALMER

7/26/15 6:16 PM EDT

There are hundreds if not thousands of issues to resolve within the nearly 30 chapters of the

proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership pact, which would cover more than 40 percent of world

economic output. Here are some that have received the most attention:

Autos — The United States has a 2.5 percent tariff on cars and 25 percent tariff on trucks; Japan

has no tariffs on vehicles. However, the American Automobile Policy Council, which represents

Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler, says regulatory and tax hurdles effectively make Japan

the most protected and closed automotive market in the world. U.S. negotiators have secured a

commitment to phase out the 25 percent tariff on trucks over the longest period allowed for any

product in the TPP — a way to counter any move by Japan to put long phase-outs of import

tariffs on sensitive agricultural products. But for the past two years they have also been engaged

in a negotiation aimed at dismantling ―non-tariff barriers‖ that Japan has erected to U.S. auto

exports. Japanese automakers produce all of the trucks and 71 percent of the vehicles they sell in

the United States at their plants in North America. They argue Detroit-based automakers only

have themselves to blame for their lack of success in Japan by offering cars larger than most

Japanese consumers prefer. Meanwhile, both U.S. and Japanese automakers have interests in

Malaysia, a booming auto market with significant restrictions on imports.

Story Continued Below

Currency — The White House beat back an effort in Congress to put a provision to require

enforceable rules against currency manipulation in a bill to fast-track the passage of trade

agreements. Still, the legislation makes addressing the concern a principal U.S. negotiating

objective — the first time that has been done. If the TPP fails to include a meaningful currency

provision, the pact could be subject to a disapproval resolution stripping away its ―fast track‖

protections, making it open for amendment and subject to filibuster in the Senate. Ohio Sens.

Rob Portman, a Republican, and Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, have been out front in calling for

enforceable currency rules, as have Democratic lawmakers from Michigan such as Rep. Sander

Levin and Sen. Debbie Stabenow.

Dairy — A complicated four-way dance is going on in the dairy negotiations, and right now

everyone is waiting for Canada to make its move. U.S. dairy producers were opposed to the

agreement when it only included New Zealand, the world‘s largest dairy producer, but came

around when Canada and Japan, two substantial dairy markets, joined the negotiations. Now, as

http://www.politico.com/reporters/DougPalmer.html



trade officials head to Maui, it looks like Japan is prepared to strike a deal on dairy products,

although some concerns over access to its butter market remain. But so far, Canada has not put a

meaningful dairy market offer on the table, leaving U.S. producers to fear they could lose more

from the final agreement than they gain. That‘s a problem for congressional approval because, as

one lobbyist observed, ―every senator has a cow in their state.‖

Geographical Indications — Many common names for cheese, such as parmesan and asiago,

originated in Europe, and in recent free trade agreements, the European Union has tried to lock

up rights to use the names for its own producers. The U.S. dairy industry fears that could hurt its

exports and wants safeguards against that practice in the TPP. However, some countries such as

Canada, which is currently part of the TPP talks, and South Korea, which could join in a second

tranche, have already signed free trade pacts with the EU that contain protections for geographic

indications.

Government Procurement — Many countries restrict access to their public works contracts,

reasoning that domestic firms should be the main beneficiaries of taxpayer-funded projects. The

United States allows some ―Buy American‖ preferences for its own companies but generally has

an open market and has pushed for more access to foreign government procurement through its

free trade agreements. The issue is a sensitive one for Malaysia, which has had government

procurement preferences to help ethnic Malays since 1969 and previously walked away from

free trade talks with the United States over the issue. Many members of Congress from steel-

producing states do not want to see any weakening of Buy American provisions under TPP,

while Canada has sought more access to U.S. state and municipal projects funded by federal

dollars.

Investor-State Dispute Settlement — Opponents of free trade agreements often point to the

investor-state dispute settlement mechanism as one of their concerns. The provisions allows

companies to sue host governments for actions that damage their investment. Critics say it

undermines the right of governments to regulate in the public interest, while proponents say it is

a necessary protection against discriminatory and arbitrary government action. Australia refused

to include an ISDS provision its 2005 free trade pact with the United States, possibly because the

United States refused to provide more access for Australian sugar. Australia more recently said it

would consider the issue on a case-by-case basis and included ISDS in its free trade pact with

South Korea but not with Japan, both of which it concluded in 2014. The United State has ISDS

in all of its free trade pacts except the one with Australia.

Labor and Environment — Labor groups have been some of the harshest critics of free trade

agreements, arguing they keep wages low in the United States by encouraging companies to

move production overseas in search of a cheaper workforce. Environmental advocates worry

about damage to critical natural resources as result of increased trade. Neither group has been

assuaged by the administration‘s promises that the TPP will be the ―most progressive‖ trade



agreement in history. While final details are still secret, the pact is expected to contain

enforceable labor and environmental provisions. However, some lawmakers have urged that

countries such as Vietnam be required to comply with labor and environmental provisions of the

pact before receiving any of its market access benefits.

Pharmaceuticals — This issue pits Washington‘s desire to provide profit incentives for American

pharmaceutical companies to develop new drugs against critics who say overly restrictive patent

and clinical test data protections drive up the price of generic medicines and potentially limit the

ability of countries to define their own national intellectual property standards. Recent U.S. free

trade agreements with Colombia, Peru, Panama and South Korea have provided five years of

―data exclusivity‖ for patent holders. Another protection, known as patent linkage, was made

voluntary for the three Latin American countries but mandatory for South Korea. It requires

regulators to check for potential patent violations before approving a new generic drug for

manufacturing. The United States has been pushing for 12 years of data protection for ―biologic‖

drugs, the same as contained in the 2010 Affordable Care Act, but is alone on that position. Both

Canada and Japan provide eight years of data protection for biologics in their own laws while

five years is the norm for many other countries. The advocacy group Médecins Sans Frontières

has warned 12 years of data exclusivity for biologics would ―limit access to medicines for at

least half a billion people,‖ but Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch has pushed

hard for the lengthy term.

Pork — When Japan sought to exclude a long list of ―sacrosanct‖ agricultural commodities from

complete tariff elimination under the pact, no one screamed their opposition louder than the

National Pork Producers Council. A year later, the group‘s efforts seem to have to worked, and

the pork industry appears largely satisfied with the Japanese market access package as final

negotiations near, although officials have some remaining concerns that they say need to be

addressed in Maui. U.S. pork producers are also excited about the deal with Vietnam, a fast-

growing country of 90 million people where rising incomes are expected to boost meat

consumption in future years. Iowa and North Carolina are the top pork-producing states, but

production is spread throughout the Midwest and reaches as far south as Texas.

Rice — Japanese consumers eat more than 130 pounds of rice each year, about four times U.S.

levels, but very little comes from outside the country. Because rice cultivation is so closely

associated with the national identity, the government uses a combination of strict quotas and high

tariffs to ensure picturesque rice paddies remain in the Japanese landscape. U.S. rice producers

still hope for expanded export opportunities, but if the United States is stingy with Australia on

sugar it‘s harder to press Japan on rice. Arkansas is the biggest rice producing state, with sizeable

production in Louisiana, Texas and California.

State-owned enterprises — Companies directly or indirectly owned by governments play an

increasingly large role in international trade and often are dominant players in their own markets.



Japan Post, a state-owned conglomerate that operates a wide variety of businesses, including post

offices, banks and an insurance division, ranks 23rd on Fortune magazine‘s list of the 500 largest

companies in the world. SOEs are responsible for an estimated 40 percent of Vietnam‘s

economic output and also play major roles in Malaysia and Singapore‘s economies. TPP

countries appeared to have largely agreed on a set of rules to ―level the playing field‖ between

state-owned and private firms, but a debate continues over which SOEs would be excluded from

the disciplines.

Sugar — The U.S. government supports domestic sugar prices by restricting imports but

typically has given free-trade partners some additional access to the United States. Not so with

Australia, which got nothing on sugar in the free trade deal it struck in 2004. U.S. Trade

Representative Michael Froman has hinted the U.S. would provide some additional access this

time around but in a way that would not jeopardize the sugar program, which benefits sugarcane

farmers in Florida and Louisiana and sugarbeet growers in Michigan, Wisconsin, North Dakota,

Nebraska, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and Washington.

Tobacco — With U.S. cigarette consumption continuing to fall, American tobacco companies

are eager for new markets to sell their cancer sticks, coffin nails or lung busters, as they are

known on the street. Many anti-smoking groups argue tobacco should not even be included in

free trade agreements, while farm and business groups counter that excluding any legal product

sets a bad precedent. The issue gained prominence after Philip Morris used a bilateral investment

treaty between Hong Kong and Australia to sue for damages stemming from Australia‘s ―plain

packaging‖ law, which replaced familiar cigarette trademarks with graphic images of cancer

victims. U.S. trade officials proposed to address the issue within the TPP by agreeing that

measures taken to protect human, animal or plant life or health would not violate the agreement

as long as they not disguised trade barriers. Washington also proposed requiring any TPP

country to first consult with its TPP partners before challenging any tobacco control measure as a

violation of the trade pact. Neither anti-smoking nor business groups were happy with the

compromise. Malaysia countered with a proposal that would exempt tobacco-control measures

from being challenged under TPP.

Textiles and Footwear — The United States imported $82 billion worth of apparel in 2014,

including about $30 billion from China. Vietnam was second with more than $9 billion in sales

to the United States and would be in a good position to grab market share from China under TPP

pact because of tariff elimination. However, strict ―rules-of-origin‖ are expected to limit

Vietnam‘s gains by requiring that any clothing be wholly assembled within the TPP countries to

qualify for duty-free treatment under that pact. That means Vietnam could not import fabric from

a third country, such as China, and use it to make clothing that qualifies for duty-free treatment.

Some exceptions to that rule, in terms of a list of apparel products that are in ―short supply‖ in

the United States, are expected. Still, a significant loosening of the so-called ―yarn forward‖ rule



of origin poses problems for clothing manufacturers in TPP countries Peru and Mexico, who

have adapted to the standard. Meanwhile, Boston-based shoe manufacturer New Balance also is

worried about increased imports from Vietnam under the pact and has fought to maintain duties

on a number of products lines it assembles at its facilities in Maine.

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/trans-pacific-partnership-issues-120603.html#ixzz3h9V59Pik

New molecule found in common rice disease could help in fight

against HIV, ANU biologist says

By Alkira Reinfrank

Updated yesterday at 1:45pm

PHOTO: ANU biologist Dr Benjamin Schwessinger said a new molecule found a rice disease

has a similar chemistry to HIV.(Photo: Daniel Caddell)

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/trans-pacific-partnership-issues-120603.html#ixzz3h9V59Pik

http://www.abc.net.au/news/alkira-reinfrank/6295686

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-27/anu-biologist-dr-benjamin-schwessinger/6651812





A new molecule discovered in a common rice disease could help in the battle against HIV,

biologists have said.A team of international researchers found a new molecule seen in rice

disease, bacterial leaf blight, has similar molecular mechanisms to that of HIV.Researchers

found the rice plant's immune system is triggered by a molecule called RaxX, which is secreted

by the disease.The disease is detrimental to rice crops across the globe, with half of the world's

population reliant on the grain for food security.Bacterial leaf blight can destroy up to 80 per

cent of a crop in some countries if it develops early.It is a little bit like a flu shot, each flu shot

has a mixture which would most likely protect you to the next season flu and similarly these

farms can grow rice plants which would most likely be resistant to the bacteria in the field.

Australian National University's Dr Benjamin Schwessinger

Australian National University researcher Dr Benjamin Schwessinger said the discovery may

give insight into human health, as the "chemistry is similar to that of HIV entering human

cells".He said the chemical properties of RaxX, a tyrosine-sulfated protein, have a wider

significance than just rice diseases."Several major human diseases, for example HIV, involve

tyrosine-sulfated proteins. The sulfation stabilises the molecules but its role in binding and cell

entry is not precisely understood," he said."The new understanding could lead to the

development of novel methods to block such diseases."Dr Schwessinger said the molecule "has

never been seen before", and could boost crop yields and lead to more disease-resistant types of

rice."We've realised that the type of molecule plays an important role in the immune response of

rice plants," he said.

"The plant transfers water and nutrients into vessels and the bacteria normally clogs those up

which leads to the death of the plant."It will now be much easier to develop containment

strategies against the disease and breed more robust rice plants."

PHOTO: RaxX prone rice crops used in the study. (Photo: Ramesh Sonti)

Some strains of rice are naturally resistant to the disease, which has given the team a clue as to

what was affecting the plants.The team discovered the rice plant's XA21 immune system was

triggered when the RaxX molecule was secreted by the leaf blight bacterium Xanthomonas

oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo).The team generated mutants of Xoo that did not produce RaxX and

tested whether they triggered the rice immune response, which allowed them to isolate the Xoo

gene that was creating the RaxX molecule.Dr Schwessinger said the modified proteins have a

similar make-up to the HIV cells, however any application was "far off"."The proteins we

recognised were modified and similar modifications were required for HIV to enter the human

cells," he said."So if we look to future research of the molecular mechanism ... it could lead to

insight to its application to HIV."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-27/rice-crop/6651814



Dr Schwessinger said he hoped the research could help rice immunity and methods to produce

more food in regions where it is needed."It is a little bit like a flu shot, each flu shot has a

mixture which would most likely protect you to the next season flu and similarly these farms can

grow rice plants which would most

likely be resistant to the bacteria in the field," he said.The research has been published in the

journal Science Advances.Topics: science-and-technology, aids-and-hiv, health, canberra-

2600, act

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Negotiators inch towards historic trade deal

Shawn Donnan, World Trade Editor

http://www.abc.net.au/news/topic/science-and-technology

http://www.abc.net.au/news/topic/aids-and-hiv

http://www.abc.net.au/news/topic/health

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http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-27/rice-crop/6651814



If the 12 trade ministers gathering at a beachside hotel and spa on the Hawaiian island of Maui

this week to put the finishing touches on the Trans-Pacific Partnership live up to the confidence

of their negotiators, the agreement could finally be sealed at the end of this week.For five long

years negotiators from the US and other Pacific Rim economies have been labouring away at the

fine details of a trade agreement of more than 700 pages and 29 chapters.

The TPP, which with the US and Japan includes two of the world‘s three biggest economies,

covers 40 per cent of the global economy. In scale alone it would be the biggest trade agreement

the world has seen in two decades and the biggest regional agreement ever struck. As the

economic backbone of US President Barack Obama‘s pivot to Asia and his strategic response to

the rise of China it also has geopolitical ambition.Optimism that a deal can be finalised has

grown in recent weeks after the US Congress handed the so-called ―fast-track‖ authority the

president needs to guarantee he can smooth the way through the legislature for the TPP.

The consensus view is that other countries have been withholding their final and best offers on

any number of issues until that legislation, which restricts Congress to simple up or down votes

on trade agreements, passed. Without it they faced the risk of any deal struck by the Obama

administration being ripped up by the legislature.

But can the US and its partners really seal the deal?

Negotiators say they are within a whisker of a final agreement and quietly confident of an

announcement when the ministerial meetings conclude on Friday. The US and Japan, the two

biggest players, have all but completed their own bilateral deal over market access for everything

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/408acb3c-1a86-11e5-a130-2e7db721f996.html#axzz3gjQ4OobO

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/0f04c066-1be1-11e5-8201-cbdb03d71480.html#axzz3gjQ4OobO

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/7b30e0ee-f878-11e4-be00-00144feab7de.html#axzz3gjQ4OobO



from auto parts to beef and rice. The Obama administration is so confident it has notified

Congress it expects this TPP ministerial meeting to be the last.Yet there remain enough sticky

issues that ministers may still go home disappointed and have to reconvene in the heat of August

for another attempt.Li Keqiang pushes for China-Europe investment treaty

China‘s premier Li Keqiang has criticised investment flows between the EU and China as

―hardly satisfactory‖ and made a strong appeal for the early conclusion of a bilateral treaty that

would give Chinese companies a smoother path to acquiring European counterparts.

Continue reading

―We are at the point where we can nearly touch the goal line, but the last stretch of any

negotiation is always the most difficult,‖ Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister, told his

ministers on Friday.Inside the negotiating room the biggest remaining hurdles are to do with

intellectual property and the patent protections afforded to new pharmaceuticals. Officials have

also been working to adjust a controversial provision that allows investors to sue member

countries for compensation and, critics say, circumvent local courts and potentially hinder

governments‘ ability to regulate.The most immediate threats to an agreement may be political,

however.

Canada is under intense pressure to open up its highly protected dairy industry to outside

competition from countries such as New Zealand, home to Fonterra, the world‘s largest dairy

company. But the Canadian government of Stephen Harper, which is facing elections in October

and eager to avoid a political hit, has yet to even offer a proposal.*

That has prompted some in the US in particular to argue that Canada may have to drop out of the

TPP. In a letter to the Canadian ambassador in Washington on Friday, US senators Orrin Hatch

and Ron Wyden, two of the architects of the recently passed fast-track legislation, said their

―support for a final TPP agreement that includes Canada is contingent on Canada‘s ability to

meet the TPP‘s high standards.‖We are at the point where we can nearly touch the goal line, but

the last stretch of any negotiation is always the most difficult

- Shinzo Abe, Japanese prime minister

The Canadian government responded that it would not bow to any public bullying or what it has

dubbed ―negotiating via the media‖.Malaysia‘s prime minister, Najib Razak, is also facing a

political scandal at home, and negotiators from other countries worry that his government may

be too weak to make concessions on sensitive issues over state-owned enterprises and the

country‘s preferential labour laws for ethnic Malays.Even if a deal is struck in Maui this week it

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/f0b923c0-1e67-11e5-ab0f-6bb9974f25d0.html



will have to be signed off by the 12 countries‘ leaders and their various parliaments.But all of

that will be moot if this week the gathering trade ministers do not live up to their billing.

*The article has been amended from the original to make clear that it is the Canadian

government facing election

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/12307780-3270-11e5-91ac-a5e17d9b4cff.html#axzz3h9V2vYdo

Vietnam's Jan-July rice exports dip 3 pct y/y-farm ministry

Mon Jul 27, 2015 3:49am GMT

HANOI, July 27 (Reuters) - Rice exports from Vietnam, the world's third-largest exporter of the

grain after India and Thailand, are estimated to have eased 3.1 percent in the first seven months

of 2015 from a year ago to 3.72 million tonnes, the Agriculture Ministry said on

Monday.Revenue from the grain exports in the January-July period will reach an estimated $1.59

billion, down 8.3 percent from a year ago, the ministry said in a monthly report.Vietnam, could

ship 5.91 million tonnes of the grain this year, down 6.5 percent from 2014, the Vietnam Food

Association said, below the 6.3 million tonnes forecast by the U.N. Food and Agriculture

Organization. (Reporting by Ho Binh Minh; Editing by Martin Petty)

http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL3N1043Y720150727

Rice sector wary of EU-Vietnam deal

Mon, 27 July 2015

May Kunmakara

As Vietnam and the European Union reach the final stages of negotiating a bilateral trade

agreement, giving Cambodia‘s neighbour zero-duty exports to the economic bloc, local rice

millers and exporters have expressed concerns that the deal could hurt the Kingdom‘s rice

exports.Under the proposed EU-Vietnam Bilateral Free Trade Agreement (EU-V BFTA), the EU

may import around 76,000 tonnes of rice, mostly husked and milled, from Vietnam at zero per

cent duty, according to Oryza, an industry publication.Song Saran, president of Amru Rice

(Cambodia), said he was concerned if the EU-V BFTA went ahead, as it would be a big crisis for

the country‘s rice industry.

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/9ae52cd8-1673-11e5-8095-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3gjQ4OobO

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/author/may-kunmakara/17732



―If it is

materialises,

Cambodia would

face a big

challenge to

compete with

Vietnam and it

will lose certain

market share,‖

Saran said.―In the

short-term, it will

limit growth in

rice production

and exports, as well as the investment needed to improve the sector,‖ he added.Currently, the

European Union (EU) imports rice and other products duty-free from least developed countries

under the Everything But Arms policy.Of the rice exports to the EU under this policy, Cambodia

accounts for 22 per cent and Myanmar three per cent.If Cambodia needs to maintain or increase

the 250,000 tonnes its exports to the EU, Saran said it will have to improve its production

capacity and logistical services to remain competitive.

―To get more volume, we need better expanding our dryer, warehouse, and reserve funds to

purchase the rice paddy during the harvest, ―he said, ―Farmers should improve paddy production

yield and quality.‖To do so, Saran said, it require the government should provide financing to

boost stocks of paddy for export with low interest, building the warehouse and dryer machines,

reducing cost for farmers in rice farming, accessing the direct market among farmers and rice

millers, and coordinating the cost reduction on transportation among trucking companies and

exporters to explore the cost effective and reduce transportation fee.

According to David Vann, former senior advisor to Cambodia Rice Federation, starting this

October the EU will import 10,000 tonnes of rice duty-free from Vietnam.―That is just the start

and once the 10,000 tonnes quota is achieved, they would renew and would add more tonnage

subsequently.

‖Given the size of Cambodia‘s exports to the EU – which is 60 per cent or 172,000 tonnes

according to the Ministry of Agriculture – Vann said that it would be advisable to expedite

diversification to other markets.Independent economist Srey Chanthy said that despite tough

competition from Vietnam, Cambodia could increase focus on the niche market of fragrant rice –

a variety that is not grown in Vietnam currently.―Cambodia should also double efforts to

diversify to other Asian markets, like China and Malaysia, and Africa, which remains a much

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/sites/default/files/styles/full-screen_watermarked/public/field/image/rice-carry.jpg?itok=8oAav8Vz



untapped destination,‖ he said. ―That would drive us to be less dependent on the EU

market.‖IMAGE:A man unloads a bag of rice at an export warehouse in Phnom Penh earlier this

month.Vireak Maihttp://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/rice-sector-wary-eu-vietnam-deal

Farmers in Phrae begin rice cultivation as a little rain

resumes

Monday, 27 July 2015By NNT

PHRAE, 26 July 2015 - Farmers in the

northern province of Phrae have begun rice cultivation after scattered showers were seen all over

the area in the past several days, bringing in more water to agricultural lands and the Yom River.

Water record at Huai Sak Station on the Yom River in Song District showed a height of 1.18

meters on Sunday (26

Jul) with the flowing

speed of 14.42 cubic

meters per second. Mae

Yom Reservoir under

the Mae Yom Water

Distribution and

Maintenance Project,

with its longest concrete

reservoir in Thailand, is

receiving 16.5 cubic

meters of water per

second. Phrae Governor

Sak Somboonto says that the drought disaster in the province has ended but it is still under the



effect of an ongoing dry spell. Due to rain suspensions, 91,780 people in 37,200 households

living in 62 subdistricts in eight districts have been affected. The shortage of rain has threatened

4,770 rai of corn plantations, 4,960 rai of rice plantations, and 100 rai of garden crops. A preliminary

survey of the damage included 4.15 million baht loss of income.

http://www.pattayamail.com/news/farmers-in-phrae-begin-rice-cultivation-as-a-little-rain-resumes-

49403#sthash.4OjciIzM.dpuf

Auction date for inferior rice stock postponed

July 27, 2015 1:45 pm

Commerce Ministry has delayed the auction date for inferior rice in its stockpile, from the end of

this month to next month, allowing more time for officials to conduct a thorough survey and

separate quality grains from inferior ones.Commerce Minister General Chatchai Sarikanya, he

has ordered ministry officials, academics, the National Farmers Council, surveyors, rice sellers,

and the Thailand Development Research Institute to inspect silos where government‘s rice has

been stored.These officials are to thoroughly inspect 1.29 million tons of the supposedly low

quality rice in the ministry‘s stockpile as well as estimating the cost of improving the grains for

various purposes.

After the examination, the officials would determine whether the rice should be sold in smaller

portions or as an entire silo. They would also separate inferior grains from the rice to be sold for

public consumption.Auction winners have been told to strictly use these grains for particular

purposes, the Minister said, adding that his ministry would later conduct follow-up inspections to

make sure that the low-quality rice would not be sold for public consumption.Chatchai also

disclosed that the auction of around 400-500,000 tons of quality grains scheduled for next week

would go ahead as planned.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Auction-date-for-inferior-rice-stock-postponed-

30265301.html

UNISAME SUBMITS PROPOSALS TO PLANNING MINISTRY

FOR SHARING WITH ROUNDTABLE PARTICIPANTS

Jul 27, 2015 | Thaver

President of the Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) Zulfikar Thaver and

committee members invited the officials of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development

Authority (SMEDA) at Unisame house to seek their guidance and endorsement for final

submission of proposals for rapid promotion and development of the micro, small to medium

http://www.unisame.org/author/thaver/



enterprises (MSMEs) to the Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform (MoPD&R) at the

SME Round Table Conference scheduled for 29th July 2015 at Islamabad.

The UNISAME chief welcomed Haroon Ahmed Khan general manager (GM), Muslim Raza

deputy GM and Uzair Muhammad manager SMEDA and explained in details the requirements

of the MSMEs mainly access to finance, allotment of land, technical help, uninterrupted supply

of energy and raw materials and marketing support and last but not the least protection against

miscreants and corruption. He said UNISAME is dispatching its proposals to Dr Faheem ul

Islam member MoPD&R and copy to Prof Ahsan Iqbal federal minister for planning

development and reform simultaneously for his consideration.

Thaver highlighted the features of the SME Policy which envisaged each and every aspect of

SME promotion and development. It is a comprehensive plan for SME promotion and

development on modern lines with scientific approach.The SME policy was prepared with the

help of the stakeholders and covered the issues of finance, technical support for product

up gradation, modernization and standardization.The access to finance and facilitating the

MSMEs sector are widely discussed and strengthening of banking. insurance and leasing systems

are discussed thoroughly in the SME policy.For technical support the policy promised the setting

up of an SME institute.The SME policy has emphasized the need for SME Export house, SME

Fund, Venture Capital, Credit Guarantee and an SME specific bank.

The policy even promised an office for SME Ombudsman for redress of grievances.Thaver urged

the MoPD&R to implement the SME policy in letter and spirit and also study the World Bank

report prepared by Dr Salman Shah and his team for strengthening SMEDA to increase its scope

and out reach.Secondly he stressed the need to facilitate the sector by making doing of business

easy by removing all impediments and simplifying procedures, implementation of one window

operation, availability of information centers at SMEDA offices, reduction of duties on raw and

packing materials, promotion of innovative and import substitution industries, incentives for new

entrants, subsidizing solar, wind and biomass devices for alternate energy and duty free imports

of second hand tyres for alternate fuel.

Thaver emphasized the need to provide personnel and funds to SMEDA for projects for agro

based industries.UNISAME participants pinpointed the need for increasing the limits of micro

finance banks from Rs 500000 to 1 million to enable them finance the small entrepreneurs who

are not financed by the commercial banks.Secondly the members also requested for removal of

withholding tax (WHT) on banking transactions on non filers and requested for at least one years

time to enable the non filers to become filers. The WHT on profits on bank savings account is

also high and the members complained of double taxation, first on profits and then on

withdrawal of profits which is unfair and unjust.Basically UNISAME members had their

reservations on WHT itself which they said is against the norms of taxation and cannot be

imposed in this manner.



Of course income tax is acceptable because it is on income but WHT on withdrawals is unfair

because many a times it is not related to income and cannot be charged in this manner on each

and every transaction.Haroon Ahmed Khan GM SMEDA said the sector deserves priority being

the majority sector and the backbone of the economy and he would make his best efforts to

impress upon the government to give priority to the sector.Muslim Raza Dy GM said he

endorsed the demands of UNISAME for global marketing support for SME wares and work on

war footings for the establishment of the SME Export House to inform, educate and promote

SME products on the internet through SME galleries.Uzair Muhammad said SMEDA would

sharpen its training tools for the sector and conduct training courses in Information technology,

energy preservation and accounting systems.

http://www.unisame.org/unisame-submits-proposals-to-planning-ministry-for-sharing-with-

roundtable-participants/

APEDA RICE India

International Benchmark Price

Price on: 24-07-2015

Product Benchmark Indicators Name Price

Apricots

1 Turkish No. 2 whole pitted, CIF UK (USD/t) 5875

2 Turkish No. 4 whole pitted, CIF UK (USD/t) 5125

3 Turkish size 8, CIF UK (USD/t) 4125

Raisins

1 Californian Thompson seedless raisins, CIF UK (USD/t) 2396

2 South African Thompson seedless raisins, CIF UK (USD/t) 2337

White Sugar

1 CZCE White Sugar Futures (USD/t) 801

2 Kenya Mumias white sugar, EXW (USD/t) 691



3 Pakistani refined sugar, EXW Akbari Mandi (USD/t) 624

Source:agra-net For more info

Market Watch

Commodity-wise, Market-wise Daily Price on 25-07-2015

Domestic Prices Unit Price : Rs per Qty

Product Market Center Variety Min Price Max Price

Maize

1 Dehgam (Gujarat) Other 1025 1300

2 Koraput (Orissa) Other 1310 1310

3 Bellary (Karnataka) Local 1389 1389

Jowar(Sorgham)

1 Amreli (Gujarat) Other 1260 1850

2 Theni (Tamil Nadu) Other 1340 1420

3 Deoli (Rajasthan) Other 1145 1651

Mango

1 Bharuch (Gujarat) Other 1500 3000

2 Palakkad (Kerala) Other 2600 3000

3 Nilagiri (Orissa) Other 2600 3000

Cabbage

1 Banga (Punjab) Other 1000 1811

2 Aroor (Kerala) Other 2700 2900

3 Deogarh (Orissa) Other 2000 3000



Source:agra-net For more info

Egg Rs per 100 No

Price on 25-07-2015

Product Market Center Price

1 Ahmedabad 332

2 Chittoor 323

3 Hyderabad 303

Source: e2necc.com

Other International Prices Unit Price : US$ per

package

Price on 24-07-2015

Product Market Center Origin Variety Low High

Onions Dry Package: 50 lb sacks

1 Atlanta Colorado Yellow 25 26

2 Chicago California Yellow 20 22

3 Detroit Mexico Yellow 23 23.50

Carrots Package: 20 1-lb film bags

1 Atlanta California Baby Peeled 18 20.50

2 Chicago California Baby Peeled 17 17

3 Dallas Arizona Baby Peeled 18 18

Apples Package: cartons tray pack

1 Atlanta Virginia Red Delicious 19 19

http://e2necc.com/



2 Baltimore Washington Red Delicious 22 24

3 Dallas Washington Red Delicious 18 19.75

Source:USDA

Agri economy may nosedive

Priti Nath Jha, TNN | Jul 26, 2015, 10.36PM IST

MUZAFFARPUR: State's agriculture economy may nosedive with farmers not receiving

remunerative prices of their produce in absence of sufficient number of agriculture processing

plants and drought conditions looming large on the one hand and non-payment of about Rs 365

crore from existing 11 sugar factories in the state going into gradual deficit on account of glut in

sugar market, on the other. Fast changing climatic conditions have already damaged litchi and

mango crops in the state and the prospect of a good kharif too has been marred by scanty rainfall.

Director, state agriculture department, Dharmendra Singh, acknowledged that the rainfall during

the current month is nearly 60% less than normal rain in the state.

Although, it is too early to say that Bihar is facing drought, farming has been definitely affected

in rain-fed areas, he added. Informed sources said Bihar produces nearly 80 lakh tones of paddy

every year, on an average. But only 8 lakh tonnes of paddy is being consumed by state's own rice

mills. Producers have sold out their paddy only at Rs 800 per quintal to traders who have sent the

entire stock to good quality rice mills outside Bihar. Definitely, there are rice hullers in every

locality of the state being operated either with diesel or electricity but even villagers prefer to eat

polished and branded rice produced by outside rice mills than that produced by local hullers.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/Agri-economy-may-nosedive/articleshow/48228638.cms

Madagascar to increase rice yield using Chinese hybrid rice

Xinhua

July 26, 2015

ANTANANARIVO: Like other rice farmers in Madagascar, 19-year old Patrick Razanakoto is

hopeful of increasing his rice yield after using Chinese hybrid rice seeds.―I decided to use hybrid

rice when I saw my neighbour‘s yield,‖ Razanakoto told Xinhua in his hometown of

Ambatondrazaka, 268 km northeast of Madagascar‘s capital Antananarivo.―Before, I was only

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/toireporter/author-Priti-Nath-Jha.cms

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Bihar

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/NewsSource/xinhua



cultivating one hectare of land and harvesting less than two tons of rice. But I decided to increase

the piece of farmland by renting additional three hectares and I now expect to harvest at least

four tons of rice per hectare after I started using hybrid rice seeds,‖ the young farmer

said.Razanakoto says ―a better future for his family‖ is what has motivated him to increase his

production.

‖―My dream in life is to be rich like everybody else. After some years, my priority is to have my

own land,‖ he said, adding that he would not wish to see his child suffering like him and wanted

him to study and become a doctor.Razanakoto has rented three hectares from Matagri, a

company that popularizes Chinese hybrid rice dubbed Weichu-903. It rents land to farmers in

Ambatondrazaka, gives them seeds and fertilizers and also buys their paddy.According to Andre

Ranaivoson, the head of Matagri, the company deals with two categories of farmers, with the

first category comprising farmers with their own piece of land and the second comprising those

who are facilitated with everything, starting with land.―We give them seeds, equipments and

money.

After the harvest, both parties calculate their cost of production and deduct it from the profits,‖

Ranaivoson said.He said whereas one hectare of land will require 26 kg of hybrid seeds, it can

produce between 8 to 12 tons of hybrid rice after 152 days of cultivation.Ambatondrazaka

Regional Director of Agricultural Development Samuel Rakotondrabe told Xinhua the region

has four varieties of rice among which Weichu-903 is the most appreciated by the farmers

currently for its yields and taste.Rakotondrabe said during the 2014-2015 farming season, only

135 hectares of land in Ambatondrazaka were placed under hybrid rice cultivation.

A local chief, Jean Yves Ranaivonirina, told Xinhua Madagascar will no longer experience food

insecurity challenges if all the 100,000 hectares of arable land in Ambatondrazaka, the country‘s

breadbasket, can be placed under hybrid rice.He noted that besides its good taste, the Weichu-

903 rice variety could be cultivated at any time of the year, it has a higher yield and fetches more

money on the market than the other rice varieties. A kilo of its paddy is one third more

expecnsive than other rice varieties.Rice is the staple food in Madagascar. According to statistics

from the National Instute of Statistics (INSTAT), most Malagasy households eat rice three times

a day while a Malagasy consumes an average of 114 kg of rice per year.INSTAT notes that the

country currently produces only 5.9 million tons of rice per year, which is below the required

quantity for 22 million Madagascans. The low production has been attributed to use of poor

quality seeds, lack of proper farming equipments and shortage of fertilizer.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/business/26-Jul-2015/madagascar-to-increase-rice-yield-using-chinese-

hybrid-rice



USA Rice, Members, Iraqi Trade Minister Talk Markets

Presenting market realities

AMMAN, JORDAN -- In a continued effort to keep U.S. rice competitive in the Iraqi market,

USA Rice members met last week with the Iraqi Trade Minister and his staff to discuss

requirements and expectations surrounding that country's public tender process. Iraq imports

approximately 1.4 million MT of rice annually and the Iraqi Grain Boardpurchases nearly all

imports via a public tendering process.

The past year has seen both positive trade results, including a recent sale of 60,000 MT of U.S.

long grain rice, but also frustration when U.S. tenders fail even while we remain price

competitive vis-à-vis other South American origins.The meeting with the Trade Minister was

intended to better understand the tendering process and the rationale for certain requirements

contained in the tender documents. In addition to USA Rice members and staff, USDA/FAS

Minister Counselor for Iraq Ron Verdonk attended the meeting. USDA and the U.S. Department

of State have been extremely engaged and helpful to the U.S. rice industry as we try to gain

reliable and consistent access to the Iraqi rice market.

The U.S. team also reiterated a long-standing invitation for the Trade Minister and members of

the Grain Board to visit rice country in the United States this summer. The Minister has

indicated that he will try to schedule a visit before September and USA Rice will develop an

appropriate itinerary to accommodate the Minister's schedule.

Contact: Jim Guinn (703) 236-1474

USA RICE FEDERATION



Biting into Canada's Ethnic Communities

Chef Nick Liu

TORONTO, CANADA -- In an effort to make inroads with

Canada's multicultural society, USA Rice is focusing recent

promotion efforts here on a particular target market -- Chinese

Canadians. USA Rice launched a media campaign aimed at this

typically white rice consumer group to increase awareness,

consumption, and sales of brown rice. USA Rice educational

materials were translated into Chinese, along with four Asian recipes developed by one of

Toronto's hottest culinary stars, Chef Nick Liu. "Creating brown rice recipes for this campaign

was a natural fit for me," said Chef Liu. "I embraced the recipe development, adopting the same

culinary approach I use for my restaurant's menu creations, which draws upon both my Chinese

heritage and Canadian upbringing. I combine Asian flavors with local ingredients to create

delicious recipes where brown rice is a natural fit."The recipes and brown rice information were

featured in nearly 50 articles and garnered three million media impressions in Chinese

publications. A recent grocery store audit here revealed that T&T, a popular Chinese

supermarket, offers more than 35 products featuring U.S.-grown rice, six of which are brown

rice.

Contact: Sarah Moran (703) 236-1457

Crop Progress: 2015 Crop 51 Percent Headed

WASHINGTON, DC -- Fifty-one percent of the nation's 2015 rice acreage is headed, according to today's

U.S. Department of Agriculture's Crop Progress Report.

Rice Headed, Selected States

Week Ending

State July 26,

2014

July 19,

2015

July

26,

2015

2010-2014

average

Percent

http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001brvd5XstObcVGva2u5tmlP2qXCC6Zn2RAm1_qp-2f7tmwfCxDoRtpHbPaHXzWWl7CelImWAscy_Vv0z2tASdQ8wGYxyBiKw8WyRUVAXY62MxcSjIHGTY9oUBHaXF67eVbSl9gHdTvg22G4pxFb_i6Jsp9O3Y0mSRdplBpMt850-Ki1NR0URSVgH_IcSPImNjof5P7zwJp1BDofKywh5G5PvXKhytM05ZzideG1YKqFOwso2x6KXvJdVOJIOXJjGM&c=bXZSYxjcEaUxOymtISvLya8poeXwq15yknNk20E5mZpMoUDcOIpxdw==&ch=P-F9rQS2EPl6VoS7JAvuxokeD7Tkwe4tqD-_-ZSfDfPmyVQIH2zwCg==



Arkansas 29 30 45 43

California 19 18 20 8

Louisiana 85 85 91 85

Mississippi 56 54 72 65

Missouri 38 36 42 26

Texas 78 63 79 80

Six States 41 40 51 45

CME Group/Closing Rough Rice Futures

CME Group (Preliminary): Closing Rough Rice Futures for July 27

Month Price Net Change

September 2015 $10.960 - $0.085

November 2015 $11.225 - $0.085

January 2016 $11.495 - $0.085

March 2016 $11.695 - $0.085

May 2016 $11.880 - $0.090

July 2016 $11.880 - $0.090

September 2016 $11.880 - $0.090

http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001brvd5XstObcVGva2u5tmlP2qXCC6Zn2RAm1_qp-2f7tmwfCxDoRtpAcINTk2kM0q5fxVpZYh1oSFVq9SX_HobLJMw11ENNCkuj4YhK_h3eiWYFp10JCSobO9cI_95ePAQjeD-cBucKhuJ2uCGli9ioI2LxLOWv_8oSQNAanOGQTx1gm52q7ktSEC2AF9Hb2SHDBBqQsYmbj4iOw_gRP5z7gY1FoZ6QWT9dckW1fScqmkvWhvf__CocZYpSlxuNL-S8WRTGqEeF9si57tF2S3vtz-A5gIQfJj&c=bXZSYxjcEaUxOymtISvLya8poeXwq15yknNk20E5mZpMoUDcOIpxdw==&ch=P-F9rQS2EPl6VoS7JAvuxokeD7Tkwe4tqD-_-ZSfDfPmyVQIH2zwCg==



Good rainfall expands crop planting by 26%

By ET Bureau | 27 Jul, 2015, 04.40AM IST

Rainfall in the past 24 hours was 45% more than average, reducing the total deficit since June 1

to only 5%, data from the IMD showed.ET SPECIAL:

NEW DELHI: Heavy monsoon showers drenched crops

in agriculturally significant central and northwestern

India, bringing the season's total rainfall one percentage

point closer to normal after four days of torrential rains.

Rainfall in the past 24 hours was 45% more than

average, reducing the total deficit since June 1 to only

5%, data from the India Meteorological Department

showed. The weather office has predicted very heavy

showers in parts of the country in the days ahead, which

is likely to further reduce the rain deficit of the season.

Unexpectedly good rainfall has encouraged farmers to

expand the area under cultivation by 26% compared

with last year, with strong gains in pulses and oilseeds. This is expected to reduce India's

dependence on imports.

The weather office had forecast a 12% deficit in rainfall this season, particularly in July and

August. While June rainfall was 16% more than normal, the monsoon dipped sharply in early

July before it gained momentum again in the past week. Rainfall in the past seven days has been

close to normal or higher, which will help paddy, oilseed, coarse grain, cotton and other crops.

Parts of western India where crops were drying up due to weak rainfall received strong monsoon

showers in the past week, helping the crops recover.

Economists and analysts say that going by current trends, this year's kharif production is likely to

be higher than last year. This will reduce fears of food inflation, a key consideration for the

Reserve Bank of India's approach towards interest rates. Numerical forecast models of the

weather office indicate that rainfall is expected to remain higher than normal for the following

week, which should further increase crop planting. Gujarat, western Madhya Pradesh and parts

of west Rajasthan along with Jammu and Kashmir received heavy rainfall in the past few days.

However, southern India as well as the northeast saw muted rainfall in the past day. Rainfall in

southern India has been 15% below the longterm average since the start of the monsoon season

on June 1. North-west India, on the other hand has a 10% surplus rainfall, which should boost

output because the region includes the key grain-producing states of Punjab and Haryana.

/topic/India-Meteorological-Department

/topic/food-inflation

/topic/Madhya-Pradesh



Rainfall in West Bengal, a major rice producing region, has also progressed well, while it has

picked up significantly in western Uttar Pradesh, which is also a major agricultural region, after a

shaky start in June.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/agriculture/good-rainfall-expands-crop-planting-by-

26/articleshow/48230458.cms

Nigeria: Dangote to Produce One Million Tonnes of Rice in

Five Years

Nigeria: PDP Accuses Buhari of Dividing Nigeria Over Voting Pattern Statement

By Mohammed Shosanya

Lagos — President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has said that there is no going back on his

plan to invest heavily in rice farming in five states in order to reduce the importation of

commodity into Nigeria.Dangote, who spoke at a series of town hall sensitisation meetings

between the management of Dangote Rice Farming Ltd and officials of the Jigawa State

government and communities on the rice project, said he hopes to use the same as platform to

become the leader in rice farming in the world and also boost the Nigerian economy, encourage

self-sustainability and import substitution in rice.

The management team led by Alhaji Mohammed Bello who represented Dangote, said the

company was set to reduce rice importation by investing to become the largest farmer in the

world by 2020 with excess of 150,000 hectares of land spread around three to five states.A

statement by the company quoted Bello as saying that Dangote Rice Farming Ltd will produce

and sell one million tonnes of high quality parboiled rice within the next five years and at the

same time support and develop other Nigerian rice farmers through an out-grower plan that will

generate employment.He said state of the art equipment worth millions of dollars meant for the

take-off of the rice project were being expected on a location in Kaffin Hausa local government

area of Jigawa State.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201507270936.html

Rice imports drop by 53% as prices rise

JULY 26, 2015 : IFE ADEDAPO

/topic/West-Bengal





Bags of rice

The volume of rice being imported into the country

has dropped by 53 per cent in the last one month

just as the price of the commodity has increased by

over 20 per cent in the market, following the

Central Bank of Nigeria‘s decision to place rice

among 41 items not valid for foreign exchange.

The CBN had last month warned banks and bureau

de change operators against making available

foreign exchange to importers of rice and 40 other

items in a bid to conserve the hard earned forex

and boost the production of those

products.Already, the decision is beginning to take a heavy toll on the importers of the affected

items and the general business environment.

In the case of rice, statistics from the Nigerian Ports Authority‘s daily shipping position obtained

on Friday revealed that out of 37 ships expected to berth at the seaport terminals between July 9

and August 1, rice was not included.The ships carrying other food commodities and other

products are expected to berth at the APM Terminals, Apapa Bulk Terminal, GDNL, ENL,

Lister, among other port terminals.It was gathered that since the beginning of the month, only

one ship carrying about 34,000 metric tonnes of rice had berthed on July 2 at the ENL/GDNL

Terminal.

But in May, the Lagos ports received a total of 71,630 metric tonnes of rice. The 34,000MT of

rice for July, therefore, shows a decline of 52.5 per cent.Our correspondent gathered that rice

importers were finding it difficult to import the product due to high cost of buying dollars at the

parallel market for business.The value of naira had been depreciating for the past one month.

And as of Thursday, the value of naira to dollar stood at N244.The Afrinvest Research, in its

foreign exchange market review of the past week, stated that importers of items banned from

accessing foreign exchange at the official market had continued to scramble for hard currency in

the parallel market.It said, ―We anticipate that the foreign exchange policies in Nigeria will

affect local manufacturing companies that depend on the importation of some of the listed items

for raw materials.

This may further have some impact on growth rate and inflation in the third quarter of 2015.‖In

its circular released on the June 23, the CBN explained that the move was to encourage the local

production of the goods and sustain the stability of the forex market.The CBN Governor, Mr.



Godwin Emefiele, had threatened to sanction banks that flouted the directive and provided

foreign exchange to importers of the banned products.Findings by SUNDAY PUNCH from

various markets in Lagos and other parts of the country on Friday showed that the price of rice

had continued to rise with a 50kg bag of the product selling for a minimum of N8,500, compared

with N7,000 it was being sold at the beginning of the year.

A trader at Daleko Market, a major rice market in Lagos, Mrs. Folashade Adeleke, said that the

price of the food commodity had increased due to the persistent clampdown by the Nigeria

Customs Service on smugglers from the land borders.She said, ―The Cotonou rice, which is

smuggled into the country, is always cheaper and importers are forced to reduce their price in

order to compete effectively. But since the border has been closed and customs officers are

seizing the smuggled rice, the price of the product keeps increasing.‖Adeleke said although she

was aware about the existence of locally produced paddy rice, only Ofada rice had been widely

accepted and currently being sold in the market.

The immediate Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, was reported to have said that

local brands such as upland rice, lowland rice and fadama rice were available in Sokoto, Kebbi,

Kano, Katsina, Niger and Kogi states.The Food and Agricultural Organisation had predicted that

Nigeria‘s rice purchases would drop by 3.3 per cent from three million metric tonnes in 2014 to

2.9 million metric tonnes in 2015.

Contact: [email protected]

http://www.punchng.com/business/rice-imports-drop-by-53-as-prices-rise/

California rice farmers put water rights to work for

environment

By Peter Fimrite

July 25, 2015 Updated: July 25, 2015 9:10pm

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.sfchronicle.com/author/peter-fimrite/



Photo: Michael Macor / Michael Macor / The Chronicle

Top: Water from the Sacramento River flows in irrigation canals on the Davis Ranches in

Colusa, which have some of the state‘s oldest water rights.COLUSA — Don Bransford drove

one recent day past rice fields stretching to the horizon, over a water-filled slough and into the

gravel parking lot of a historic 1894 brick ranch house once owned by a Sacramento Valley

farming pioneer.To continue reading this story, you will need to be a digital subscriber to

SFChronicle.com.

http://www.sfchronicle.com/science/article/California-rice-farmers-put-water-rights-to-work-

6405452.php

Rice, milk and cars stand in way of historic trade pact

Top trade officials from 12 countries scattered around the Asia-Pacific region will descend on

the island of Maui for a week of meetings starting Friday.

By Doug Palmer

http://www.politico.eu/author/doug-palmer/



27/7/15, 11:46 AM CET

Updated 27/7/15, 3:35 PM CET

The Obama administration is closer than ever on a breakthrough on the biggest trade deal in

world history. But years of delicate negotiating could be undone by Canadian milk. Or Japanese

rice. Or U.S. pharmaceutical patents.Top trade officials from 12 countries scattered around the

Asia-Pacific region have descended on the island of Maui for a week of meetings, where they

will sit in hotel conference rooms negotiating a free trade zone that would cover about 40 percent

of world economic output.And while they could leave with a breakthrough deal, the talks could

just as easily be blown up by petty and not-so-petty grievances over everything from cheese

labels to auto tariffs.The administration sees the Trans Pacific Partnership as a major part of

President Barack Obama‘s legacy, and his top trade representative, Michael Froman has visited

four countries and met with most of the others in Washington, D.C., over the past several weeks

urging them to be prepared to close the deal.

The Republican Congress has already given Obama special trade promotion authority, which

would allow him to push through the deal with a simple majority vote.But time is short, and

there‘s no guarantee of an agreement.Canada wants to protect its dairy and poultry producers and

Japan, its rice farmers. American drug companies want other countries to adopt strong U.S.

protections on a blockbuster new class of medicines called biologics, and U.S. automakers

oppose giving Japan more market access. Canada and Malaysia are particular concerns because

of difficult domestic politics that could make it more difficult for them to close in Maui, even if

other countries are ready.If talks slip into next year, election-year politics could destroy any

momentum and relegate the pact to another administration.―I think there‘s limited time to try to

conclude a deal,‖ said Tami Overby, senior vice president for Asia at the U.S. Chamber of

Commerce. ―I think there is a political drop-dead date.

I don‘t know what that date is and I won‘t speculate on it. … But I do think there is one out

there, and I think probably the administration is very focused on that and has worked

backward.‖The breathless pace is possible only because of the so-called ―fast-track‖ bill,

strongly opposed by most Democrats, labor, environmental and health-care activists who are

critical of the trade deal.―The administration has indicated they want to wrap up negotiations in

this round,‖ Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a staunch opponent of the agreement, told reporters. ―My

colleagues and I are here to say that is altogether too fast a schedule. … The agreement itself is

riddled with problems. Congress, industry, advocates still have enormous concerns which the

administration has done little or nothing to resolve.‖Timelines built into the new trade promotion

authority law require Obama to give Congress 90 days‘ notice before signing any trade deal and

to make the agreement public 60 days before signing. So the transpacific pact must be completed

soon for Congress to vote on it before Christmas, the administration‘s best-case scenario.

Still, U.S. trade officials have never closed a deal quite as complex as the TPP, which aims to

establish the rules of trade for the 21st century and anchor the United States securely in the

fastest-growing economic region of the world rather than cede it to an ever-more-dominant

China.―It‘s going to be some of the most interesting negotiations in diplomatic history,‖ said

John Corrigan, who tracks the talks for the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council, a group of



companies active in the Southeast Asia region. ―Certainly the most important trade deal in global

commercial history, the most complex and the most forward-looking.

The proposed pact would update the North American Free Trade Agreement between the United

States, Canada and Mexico and expand it to nine other countries that range widely in terms of

economic development and political systems but share a desire for closer trade ties: These

include two that fought bitter wars against the United States in the 20th century — Japan and

Vietnam — as well as Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Peru, Malaysia, Singapore and

Brunei.Even before the deal‘s details have been released, the TPP has stirred NAFTA-sized

opposition, with labor, environmental and other activist groups preparing to fight the agreement,

which could be headed to Congress for a straight up-or-down vote by the end of this year or early

2016 — just as the presidential primary season is getting underway.

Obama has promised the TPP will be the ―most progressive trade deal in history‖ in terms of

raising labor and environmental standards, especially in less-developed TPP countries like

Malaysia, Vietnam and Mexico. But opponents are skeptical it will make much of difference in

those areas and say it will simply encourage more jobs to move overseas.―The ‗most progressive

trade agreement‘ isn‘t much of a standard in our point of view,‖ AFL-CIO President Richard

Trumka told POLITICO this week. ―It can be better than the others, but still not good enough. …

Bad trade agreements lower wages. Bad trade agreements take jobs away.‖Meanwhile, Congress

is closely watching the final negotiations, demanding a pact that opens markets and expands

protections for U.S. intellectual property while not harming politically important constituencies.

―I think [Froman] understands the hot spots for the people who support opening up markets and

where he needs to go in order to get votes,‖ Rep. Pat Tiberi, chairman of the House Ways and

Means Committee‘s Trade Subcommittee. ―I think he clearly understands that he can‘t just come

back with whatever‖ and win congressional approval.The final agreement could

have 30 chapters covering an almost uncountable number of issues in areas including tariffs on

farm products and manufactured goods, barriers to cross-border services trade, labor and

environmental protections and the controversial intersection of drug patents and access to

medicines. That‘s bigger and more comprehensive than NAFTA, which had 22chapters, and the

more recent U.S.-South Korea pact, which had 24. http://www.politico.eu/article/rice-milk-and-cars-stand-in-way-of-historic-trade-pact/

Scientists discover rice plant's immune system trigger

Researchers say their discovery could help doctors better combat human diseases, too.

By Brooks Hays | July 27, 2015 at 12:02 PM

A new discovery could boost rice production, the world's most important grain crop. Photo by

Stephen Shaver/UPI

https://www.politicopro.com/f/?f=40765&inb

https://www.politicopro.com/f/?f=40765&inb

https://www.nafta-sec-alena.org/Home/Legal-Texts/North-American-Free-Trade-Agreement

https://ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/korus-fta/final-text

http://www.politico.eu/article/rice-milk-and-cars-stand-in-way-of-historic-trade-pact/

http://www.upi.com/author/Brooks-Hays/



ACTON, Australia, July 27 (UPI) -- Researchers in Australia have isolated the molecule that

alerts rice plants to the presence of bacterial leaf blight. The bacteria-secreted molecule, called

RaxX, triggers the plant to turn on its immune system."We've discovered a new molecule that's

never been seen before," Benjamin Schwessinger, an agricultural researcher at the Australian

National University, said in a press release. "We've realised that this type of molecule plays an

important role in the immune response of rice plants.

"Researchers confirmed the importance of molecule after studying the behavior of plants that

have naturally developed more successful defenses against the disease. They found that the rice

plant's XA21 immune system had evolved to recognize the disease's presence by seeking out the

RaxX molecule.To confirm their work, researchers developed leaf blight bacteria mutants that

failed to produce the key molecule. When exposed to previously resistant rice, the plants were

unable to fend off the bacteria. Scientists were then able to isolate the gene that produces RaxX,

a tyrosine-sulfated protein."It will now be much easier to develop containment strategies against

the disease and breed more robust rice plants," Schwessinger said.

Rice makes up more than a fifth of the world's diet, feeding millions. Bolstering the crop against

disease outbreaks could save rice growers millions, and better secure sources of nutrition for

impoverished eaters.But researchers say their discovery could help doctors better combat human

http://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/trigger-found-for-defence-to-rice-crop-disease



diseases, too."Several major human diseases, for example HIV, involve tyrosine sulfated

proteins. The sulfation stabilises the molecules but its role in binding and cell entry is not

precisely understood," Schwessinger said. "The new understanding could lead to the

development of novel methods to block such diseases."The new findings were published in the

journal Science Advances.

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2015/07/27/Scientists-discover-rice-plants-immune-system-

trigger/8401438007966/

Agri export outlook not bright for India

Competing countries‘ depreciating currencies put them in an advantageous position even as India

refuses to adopt tech advances in agriculture

By: Tejinder Narang | July 27, 2015 12:24 AM

The trend of a rise in agri and allied exports in the last five years has reversed—such exports fell

by 8.5%, from $33 billion in 2014 to $30.1 last year—though the decline has been somewhat

stemmed by higher beef and meat products exports, up by $500 million. It simultaneously

reflects policy paralysis in the Indian agriculture sector as well as the redundancy that has set in

for most processes due to the march of technology. Is this tumble because of the global fall in

prices of commodities, almost by 20-25%? No, not fully.

Globally, the demand for agri-commodities continues to expand. But India has lost ground in

many traditional markets to competing economies such as Brazil, Argentina, France, Russia and

Ukraine.The depreciation of currencies of many rival countries, the poor yield of Indian

agriculture, inflexibility due to the government‘s tight control of the sector, etc, are some factors

for this dismal performance. The fall in exports of major agri items has been precipitous, to the

extent of 50% in some cases.

The continuing fall in crude oil prices due to the conflict in West Asia, the inevitable entry of

Iran and the ample US-shale oil output is likely to trigger price compression of ethanol and other

bio-fuels, which in turn will cause a reduction of consumption of corn and soya. That trend will

continue to aggravate, causing values of agri-commodities like wheat, sugar, oil meals and

vegetable oils, to bottom out.Add to this mix the currency depreciation scenario in many

countries. Thanks to the Greek crisis, the euro is already weak and will continue to remain so or

weaken further—even a dollar-euro parity (1:1) is being speculated. The Russia-Ukraine conflict

and the falling crude values create more their respective currencies. Brazil‘s real will fall further

as it struggles to ensure export consistency of its humongous crops of soya and corn to service

the weakening power of China. These factors portend India will remain out-priced in near future.

http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/1/6/e1500245

http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/1/6/e1500245

http://www.financialexpress.com/author/tejinder-narang/



In the short-term, a downward bias will prevail internationally for agri-commodity prices, unless there are

major droughts or environmental issues. Even under relatively volatile conditions, the world will produce

more agri-commodities with the improvement in sowing/ harvesting/ irrigation/ fertiliser

technologies and the growing usage of GM seeds. To meet the competition owing to global

changes and turbulence, India has to introspect on its macropolicy for agriculture. The motto has

to be ―more crop per drop‖, and that ethos concerns each unit of power, fertiliser and

technological investment.

However, the current scenario lends itself to diverse views. Do we need to focus wheat and rice

production which is tied to dedicated procurement for 7%-8% farmers? Should we keep

importing about 14 million tonnes of edible oil, with annual increments of 1 million tonnes? Are

we to continue with the import of pulses, given our demand stands at 5-6 million tonnes with

outlook of only increasing? Should we to shed our aggression in oil meals export, where the

http://images.financialexpress.com/2015/07/Gr123.jpg



decline is 52% in FY15, over FY 14? Can we afford to keep our soy output unchanged at the 10-

11 million tonnes we have been seeing for the past 5 years? Should our maize/corn production

remain at 23-24 million tonnes while Brazil‘s output has jumped to 80 million tonnes from 50

million tonnes in the last five years? Is the government-controlled pricing of sugarcane,

irrespective of market forces, sustainable? Will more yield per hectare spur exports?

Should we continue to impose custom duties on items which are cheaper abroad to protect our

domestic inefficiencies and outdated policies? India has become a high-cost agri market. Even

Pakistan and Bangladesh, that hitherto sourced oil meals from India, have shifted to oil meals of

South American origins despite the logistical disadvantage.Green revolutions have happened

when India either kept pace with world‘s scientific developments or adapted them.The

introduction of high-yielding varieties of Mexican wheat seeds, as per Norman Borlaug, the

renowned American scientist, with increased use of fertiliser and irrigation technologies, was

responsible for average yields hooting up to 3 tonnes/hectare from less than 1 tonne.

Hybridisation of paddy by Indian Council of Agricultural Research, led by scientist VP Singh,

enabled India to improve the quality and yield of basmati rice. Lower yields mean sub-optimal

use of land, labour, inputs and other natural resources. Reduced output is responsible for lower

income and lower economic growth, leading to stress in the economy.

There appears to be congenital apathy in India for GM crops, which are now widely grown in the

US and South America. China is the largest importer (74 million tonnes) of GM soyabeans. But

India keeps thwarting agricultural progress by stalling on introduction of GM crops. This

supports vested interests in agricultural, industrial and political circles. Why is a fair cost-benefit

analysis not being carried out for GM crops? Can we stand as an isolated island when it comes to

modern agricultural practices? If some modifications in the policy are to be introduced for

induction of GM crops, let these be deliberated upon. On the one hand, we are one of the biggest

consumers of imported GMO soy oil and cotton seed oil. On the other, we still don‘t permit these

crops to be planted in our country. Is this pure hypocrisy?

As the economy grow, we will need more corn, soy, pulses, wheat, rice, edible oils, sugar, etc.

Unless we don‘t come up with the right blend of policy, we may soon turn importers rather than

be a producer and exporter.

First Published on July 27, 2015 12:20 am

http://agriculture.einnews.com/article/277908326/e89yNzXrDUD3KuLk

New GM rice can cut greenhouse emission: Scientists

Contributed by TYLER OWEN on July 27, 2015 at 8:57 am



Indian labourers plant rice paddy cuttings in a field on the outskirts of Amritsar on June 16, 2015

… With less carbon in the roots, there is less raw material for the microbes to work on, the

researchers explain. As a result, the world‘s rice paddies emit between 25 million and 100

million metric tons of methane every year.In order to reduce the greenhouse effect buildup and

offer more food to the world, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences has engineered a

―high-starch low-methane-emission rice‖ capable of producing a strong yield in an ecologically

friendlier manner, by making the roots smaller and grain bigger. They also took measurements of

starch content in the plants‘ stems, roots, and seeds. It was especially effective during the

summer, he says, when it cut methane emissions to 0.3 percent, compared to 10 percent of the

control rice plants‘ emissions.

The decrease in emissions was lesser in the autumn though the researchers say the GMO rice still

reduced the methane output by 50-percent. The longest part, though, will be breeding a new

variety of rice that is the same as the GMO rice, but that can be sent to farmers to be planted and

harvested.Moreover there are still biological and environmental concerns regarding the

possibility of genetically engineered strain spreading in the wild, as GM rice has not been

approved for commercial cultivations anywhere in the world. Without more trials, Bodelier

wrote, it‘s hard to know how the genetic modification impacts the rice cultivar‘s long-term

chances for survival.

The reduction in carbon going into the soil, then, means there is less for microbes to convert into

methane.In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Bruce Linquist, a plant scientist at the

University of California at Davis, echoed Bodelier‘s sentiment.But rice? This grain is so

important to human nutrition that it is second only to corn in its volume of production.Even if

further trials prove the efficacy of the modified rice, it faces huge hurdles in order to become

commercially viable.Modifying the genetic makeup of the rice was fairly simple. Golden rice – a

genetically modified strain of rice that contains beta carotene to combat malnutrition in

developing countries – was ready for full-scale use in 2002, but has faced staunch opposition that

has kept it from market for over a decade.

They maintain that have found a solution to the growing-population-climate-change conundrum,

however. The rice plant itself acts as a conduit, transmitting methane from the soil into the

atmosphere. Yet it turns out to be one of the chief sources of methane emissions on the planet,

according to a study published July 22 in the journal Nature.Scientist new rice variety with

starchier grains

Scientist new rice variety with starchier grains – FreeDistrict

Breakthrough discovery for lowering arsenic in rice



By Jenny Eagle

27-Jul-2015

Related tags: Rice, Processing, Food Standards Authority

Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast have made a breakthrough discovery in lowering levels

of arsenic in rice.

Paddy rice is the carbohydrate staple of half the world yet it is the main source of exposure to the

class-one, non-threshold carcinogen inorganic arsenic (Asi). International and national bodies are

in the process of setting standards for inorganic arsenic in rice due to the fact sub-populations are

exposed to levels that are associated with negative health consequences.

US legal standards

The UN WHO has just set, in 2014, advisory levels of Asi in polished (i.e. white) rice grain at

0.2 mg/kg, while the European Union and the US is in the process of setting legal standards for

inorganic arsenic in rice based products.As part of the study, researchers at Queen‘s tested two

methods of percolating technology, one where the cooking water was recycled through

condensing boiling-water steam and passing the distilled hot water through the grain in a lab

setting, and one where tap water was used to cook the rice in an off-the-shelf coffee percolator

. Both approaches proved effective, with up to 85% of arsenic removed from a variety of

different rice types and brands, including wholegrain and white.The scientists concluded a shop-

bought coffee percolator is the best method for removing the carcinogen, inorganic arsenic, from

all types of rice, including white and wholegrain.

Andy Meharg, professor of Plant and Soil Sciences, Queen's Institute for Global Food Security

said the breakthrough discovery is significant as offers an alternative to decreasing inorganic

arsenic in the diet.

―In our research we rethought the method of rice cooking to optimise the removal of inorganic

arsenic and we discovered by using percolating technology, where cooking water is continually

passed through rice in a constant flow, we could maximise removal of arsenic,‖ he said.

Heart disease, diabetes & nervous system damage

―Chronic exposure to inorganic arsenic can cause a range of health problems including

developmental problems, heart disease, diabetes and nervous system damage.

―However, most worrying are lung and bladder cancers. This breakthrough is the latest example

of the commitment of researchers at Queen’s to changing lives and advancing knowledge that

will have a lasting impact around the globe.‖

https://plus.google.com/110511156977251851193?rel=author



Queen‘s is now seeking a patent for the development of a

bespoke rice cooker based on a percolation system.Rice has,

typically, 10 times more inorganic arsenic than other foods

and according to the European Food Standards Authority,

people who eat a lot of rice, as is the case in many parts of the

developing world, are exposed to worrying concentrations.

Children and infants are of particular concern as they eat,

relatively, three times more rice than adults – baby rice being

a popular food for weaning – and their organs are still

developing.Market rice was purchased from major UK retailers in the city of Belfast, or

purchased online through UK retailers. Of the 41 samples tested in the study, two were

generically labeled as being from the EU, 11 from Spain, six from Italy, five from Thailand, five

from France, two from Egypt, one from Japan, one from Australia, one from Lebanon, one from

Pakistan, one from Turkey and five from the USA; with 13 being unpolished (wholegrain) and

the rest polished.

http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/Processing/Breakthrough-discovery-for-lowering-arsenic-in-rice

This Cooking Method Helps Get Rid of Arsenic in Rice

Cooking rice in this surprising household appliance could significantly cut down on the

staple’s arsenic levels.(Image via AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)



High levels of arsenic in rice shouldn‘t scare you away, scientists say, because they‘ve found

a way to flush most of the toxin, the journal Nature notes. Researchers for the study in Plos

One acquired 41 rice samples from at least a dozen countries and dumped them into either a

lab-built contraption that condensed steam and produced fresh, distilled hot water or into a

regular old coffee percolator with a filter, where the hot water dripped onto the uncooked rice

(and then back out of the rice).

The results: The coffee percolator-cooked rice got rid of half its arsenic, while the steam

device got rid of up to 85% in some cases, depending on whether white rice or whole-grain

rice was used, per the study. These findings could affect countries that consume lots of rice

and even infants who eat rice-based cereals, as high arsenic levels in food have been tied to

cancer. The way rice is produced contributes to why the product can have up to 10 times the

arsenic levels of other foods: The water present in the flooded paddies where rice is grown

can shake up inorganic arsenic found in the soil and infiltrate the plants, UPI reports.

The study‘s leader notes this technique is simply a short-term fix for people who don‘t want

to wait for longer-term solutions like revamping rice-growing processes and cultivating

strains that contain low levels of arsenic, perNature. He also doesn‘t expect everyone to start

firing up their coffee machines whenever they want to make jambalaya—he‘s really hoping

this method may lead to better rice-cookers down the road. ―We just took something that‘s in

everybody‘s kitchen and applied it to show a principle,‖ he tells the journal. (Arsenic has been

found in water, apple juice, and even beer.)

https://www.yahoo.com/health/this-cooking-method-helps-get-rid-of-arsenic-in-125176764328.html

Scientists create starchier, low-methane rice

At the other end of the plants, the grain was starchier than conventional rice, increasing the food

yield of the plants. And the new rice variety emitted less than 10% of the methane of

conventional rice, they reported.Rice paddies are the largest single source of methane linked to

human activity, with organic dump yards and cattle belch producing the rest.―The altered

allocation resulted in an increased biomass and starch content in the seeds and stems, and

suppressed methanogenesis, possibly through a reduction in root exudates‖, the team concluded.

Though methane lives for a very short time in atmosphere that carbon dioxide (CO2), the most

abundant greenhouse gas, it absorbs and radiates more heat from the earth‘s surface. In 2002, a

study noted that the rice plants, which carried more grains tend to emit less methane.

In an essay in Nature that accompanied the study‘s publication, Paul Bodelier, a researcher at the

Netherlands Institute of Ecology who was not directly involved with the study, called the

findings ―a tremendous opportunity for more-sustainable rice cultivation‖, but cautioned that

large-scale trials are necessary before moving forward with full-scale commerical use.The

decrease in emissions was lesser in the autumn though the researchers say the GMO rice still

http://www.newser.com/story/198845/heres-how-much-arsenic-is-in-rice.html?utm_source=part&utm_medium=yahoohealth&utm_campaign=relatedlink

http://www.nature.com/news/simple-cooking-methods-flush-arsenic-out-of-rice-1.18034

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0131608

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0131608

http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2015/07/23/Rice-cooked-in-coffee-maker-can-reduce-arsenic-intake/4051437665024/

http://www.newser.com/story/184805/arsenic-in-water-may-sap-iq.html?utm_source=part&utm_medium=yahoohealth&utm_campaign=relatedlink

http://www.newser.com/story/170866/fda-cracks-down-on-arsenic-in-apple-juice.html?utm_source=part&utm_medium=yahoohealth&utm_campaign=relatedlink

http://www.newser.com/story/165947/arsenic-found-in-hundreds-of-beer-samples.html?utm_source=part&utm_medium=yahoohealth&utm_campaign=relatedlink



reduced the methane output by 50-percent. This could be because more carbon going into rice

grains left less carbon to go elsewhere.It is estimated global rice production puts between 25

million and 100 million metric tons of methane into the atmosphere each year. Carbon that is

unused usually gets released into the soil, which escapes into the atmostphere as methane.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Bruce Linquist, a plant scientist at the University of

California at Davis, echoed Bodelier‘s sentiment. Far fewer methane-producing bacteria hugged

the roots of the new rice.But the fact that this rice is genetically modified could prove to be a

sticking point in introducing it to farmers and the general population.Charles Rice of Kansas

State University in Manhattan recently contributed to a 2014 IPCC report on mitigating climate

change.There is some concern, however, about the environmental impact of genetically modified

foods.

But attempts to reduce emissions from paddies have focused on changes in farming practices,

which can be onerous and expensive. Since the low-methane strain of rice isn‘t bred to be

herbicide or pesticide resistant, this most likely won‘t be an issue with this particular strain –

though the way that its root-system interacts with microbes in the soil is something to



watch.http://tvnewsroom.org/newslines/science/scientists-create-starchier-low-methane-rice-

57770/

Rwanda: Locals to Use Rice Husks for Energy

By Michel Nkurunziza

Government will soon start generating energy from rice husks as part of push to absorb

greenhouse gases and as a strategy to fight deforestation.The 'Rice husks to power project' is

being implemented in Nyagatare District to produce green energy.Bright Ntare, the programme

manager of National Climate Fund (FONERWA), said the project is among 17 climate change

adaptation projects under implementation in the country.Speaking on the sidelines of the South-

South meeting in Kigali last Thursday, convened to discuss financing climate compatible

development, Ntare said the projects are being funded by FONERWA at a tune of Rwf22 billion.

The three-day meeting drew experts from Bangladesh, Colombia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya,

Mozambique, Peru and Rwanda to discuss different funding alternatives for projects initiated to

mitigate effects of climate change in developing countries.It was organised by the Climate and

Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) in collaboration with Rwanda Environment

Management Authority (REMA).Participants said green technologies by private investors need

funding to avail renewable energy in rural areas.

Ntare said the 'Rice husks power project', whose implementation started last year, could be ready

in two months.Ankush Chhabria, the managing director of Novel Renewable Energy, (the

implementing firm), said the produced energy will be connected to national grid.The pilot project

will produce 70 kilowatt per hour and could be rolled out to other areas of the country next year,

he explained."When the husks are left in the soil by farmers and rice millers, they emit

greenhouse gases into the atmosphere that contribute to climate change but once the power

machinery is completed in two months... .the ash from the processing will be distributed to

farmers as a fertiliser," Chhabria said.

The company has signed a contract with rice millers for the distribution of husks. Under the

technology, husks are burnt in well-constructed facilities and machinery that finally store the gas

into clean energy for use.A part from funding public institutions, FONERWA also gives

innovation grants and credit line funds that focus on research and technologies to private sector

investors.Ellie Marsh, who works with global development advisors from Switzerland, noted that

there is need to create opportunities for private sector, build investors' confidence and foster

public participation into adaptation mechanisms to develop such technologies in developing

countries.She also stressed that implementation and sustainability level of the climate plans

needs to be strengthened. http://allafrica.com/stories/201507270515.html

27th July (Monday),2015 Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine

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