22nd May, 2014 Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine

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TOP Contents - Tailored for YOU
Latest News Headlines

I RRI renews push for rice futures market in Asia
Commerce Ministry initiates rice flea markets to help rice farmers
Rally in rice market ends on sluggish buying
TRS seeks MSP for rain-damaged paddy
Climate-smart rice now grown by 10 million farmers
Rice farmers face upstream battle (w/video)
The First GMO Field Tests
TPP Trade Ministers Meet in Singapore; Still Seeking Agreement
Weekly Rice Sales, Exports Reported
CME Group/Closing Rough Rice Futures
Fast & Furious Weeknight Cooking: Spinach and Pea Fried Rice
EAC probes rice import duty decision
Miscellaneous More World Rice News 05.22.2014
PhilRice unit to mitigate climate-change impact on farmers
Rice mills threaten shutdown
Genetically modified products of tomorrow: wheat, rice, even salmon?


News Detail

IRRI renews push for rice futures market in Asia
(philstar.com) | Updated May 22, 2014 - 10:00pm
MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The Philippine-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) today
renewed its call for the establishment of a rice index and commodities exchange in Asia.IRRI Director-General
Robert Zeigler said a rice futures market will help stabilize rice trade in the region."A well-regulated rice
futures market will benefit society and give farmers an opportunity to increase their incomes," said Zeigler on
the sidelines of a public session on sustainable agriculture production during the 23rd World Economic Forum
on East Asia.A well-designed futures market, he said, will allow farmers to sell their produce when prices are
favorable. To do this, countries would need to put up enough storage and port facilities to handle large volumes
of grain.
Socieconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the Philippines welcomes the idea of having a rice
futures market in the region."The presence of a futures market, at least for rice, should be beneficial (for the
Philippines) and for the world because it would stabilize (prices)," said Balisacan.IRRI initially pitched the idea
of a regional rice futures market in 2010, but Zeigler said Asian countries were lukewarm to the idea. Singapore
was urged to host a rice futures and a spot exchange, which includes the actual and selling of rice for immediate
delivery."My sense is that people fear futures market because they equate it with speculators and obscene
profits," he said.Zeigler said participants can put in place mechanisms to minimize speculation.The size of the
Asian rice economy has been estimated at $160 billion.
Commerce Ministry initiates rice flea markets to help rice farmers
Date : 22 2557
BANGKOK, 22 May 2014 (NNT) - The Ministry of Commerce has set plans to organize rice flea markets in
the hope to help rice farmers during this period when government policy and assistance measures for them are
absent. Director-General of the Internal Trade Department Somchart Soithong said the flea markets would be
held in 32 provinces from May September this year. Rice mill entrepreneurs in the provinces would attend the
markets to meet and trade rice with the farmers.
The flea markets were part of the ministrys mechanisms to make sure that rice prices in the country were in
line with the market, the official said. The average rice price at present is between 7,000 7,500 baht per
ton. The department has also instructed provincial internal trade offices to work with the Ministry of
Agriculture and Cooperatives in promoting the flea markets and giving the farmers advice on how to increase
their rice production by decreasing the costs of production and improving the quality of rice.


Rally in rice market ends on sluggish buying
KARNAL, MAY 22:
The rice market witnessed some revision in prices with aromatic and non-basmati rice dropping by 50-300 a
quintal on Thursday.Amit Chandna, proprietor of Hanuman Rice Trading Company, said that after witnessing
an uptrend over the last few days, prices have come down unexpectedly. Sentiments in the market are low and
prices may drop further in coming days.
Availability of stocks has improved but the domestic demand has failed to pick up which is the prime reason
behind the current situation of the market, said experts.
Pusa-1121 (steam) dropped by 300 to 9,200, while Pusa-1121 (sela) quoted at 7,500, 100 down. Pure
Basmati (raw) quoted at 12,300. Duplicate basmati (steam) went down by 200 and sold at 7,200 a quintal.
Pusa-1121 (second wand) was at 7,200, Tibar at 6,100 while Dubar at 5,250.
In the non-basmati section, Sharbati (steam) went down by 100 and sold at 4,700 while sharbati (sela)
moved down by 50 to 4,250.
PR varieties lost 50-125, Permal (raw) sold at 2,300, Permal (sela) at 2,400, PR-11 (sela) sold at 2,600
while PR-11 (raw) at 2,650. PR14 (steam) sold at 2,850 a quintal.
(This article was published on May 22, 2014)

TRS seeks MSP for rain-damaged paddy

Expressing concern over non-procurement of paddy by
providing minimum support price to the farmers, the
newly elected legislators of Telangana Rashtra Samithi
(TRS) have urged the district administration to take
appropriate measures to procure paddy by providing
MSP.The TRS team led by its district president Eda
Shankar Reddy, newly elected legislators Etala
Rajender, Gangula Kamalakar, Putta Madhukar, D
Manohar Reddy have met the Collector here on
Wednesday and urged him to provide MSP to the paddy
which was damaged in the recent rains.Later, talking to
newsmen, Etala Rajender said that though there was


bumper harvest of paddy in the district, but the civil supplies department had failed to procure the produce.The
IKP procurement centre and others had not even procured 20 per cent of the farmers produce, he said and added
that the farmers were forced to sell their produce at less than the MSP to the traders due to no intervention by
the government agencies and incurred huge losses. He said that they would talk with the authorities belonging
to the Civil supplies department and solve the farmers problems within two days.
Karimnagar MP-elect B Vinod Rao said that they would take all measures to fulfil the promises made during
the elections such as increasing of pensions, construction of two-bed room houses to poor, waiver of crop loans
to the farmers etc. On this occasion, the representatives belonging to the district police officers association and
TNGOs have felicitated the newly elected MP and legislators. However, the Karimnagar legislator elect
Gangula Kamalakar refused the felicitations.1.TRS team comprising newly elected MLAs Etala Rajender,
Gangula Kamalakar, Putta Madhukar, D Manohar Reddy and Karimnagar district president Eda Shankar Reddy
meet the Collector2.The Civil Supplies Department failed to procure the produce and the IKP procurement
centre and others have not procured even 20 per cent: Etala Rajender
3.The party will take all measures to fulfil the promises made during the elections such as increasing of
pensions, construction of two-bed room houses to poor, waiver of crop loans to the farmers, says Karimnagar
MP-elect B Vinod Rao
Keywords: Rain-hit paddy, compensation, TRS, MSP sought, Telangana, Seemandhra

Climate-smart rice now grown by 10 million farmers
New Delhi, IndiaMay 21, 2014

About 10 million of the poorest and most
disadvantaged rice farmers have been given access to
climate-smart rice varieties, which includes flood-
tolerant ones.Swarna-Sub1 changed my life, said Mr.
Trilochan Parida, a farmer at the Dekheta Village of
Puri in Odisha, India. Floods ravage Trilochan's rice
field every year. Flooding of four days or more usually
means a painful loss of the crop as well as of any
expected income. In 2008, however, an amazing thing
happened: Trilochan saw his rice rise back to life after
having been submerged for two weeks.Swarna-Sub1 is
a flood-tolerant rice variety developed by the
Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute
(IRRI).


It was bred from a popular Indian variety, Swarna, which has been upgraded with SUB1, the gene for flood
tolerance.Trilochan is one of millions of farmers who have found that there is a way out of losing their rice crop
from regular flooding. They are no longer at the mercy of the seasons, which they have been for
generations.Millions more are bound to be reached as a multistakeholder effort to make life better for these
farmers has recently received funding to carry on its work for another five years. Climate-smart rice varieties
are made to especially thrive in environments affected by flooding, drought, cold temperatures, and soils that
are too salty or contain too much iron that leads to iron toxicity.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will fund the third phase of the IRRI-led Stress-Tolerant Rice for Africa
and South Asia (STRASA) project with USD 32.77 million for five more years. The STRASA project was
initiated in 2007, with its first two phases funded with about USD 20 million each.STRASA is holding its
inception and planning meeting for its third phase this week, 20-23 May 2014, in New Delhi, India. Expected to
attend are some 250 participants from South Asia and Africa, with the agriculture ministers of India,
Bangladesh, and Nepal joining the opening session.Partners of the project responsible for each of its major
objectivesdrought, submergence, salinity/sodicity, and seed multiplication and disseminationwill report on
their respective progress in the first two phases and plan for the third.Under the past phases of the project, 16
climate-smart rice varieties tolerant of flood, drought, and salinity were released in various countries in South
Asia; about 14 such varieties were released in sub-Saharan Africa. Several more are in the process of being
released, said Abdelbagi Ismail, IRRI scientist and STRASA project leader.

In addition to improving varieties and distributing seeds, the STRASA project also trains farmers and scientists
in producing good-quality seeds. Through the projects capacity-building component, 74,000 farmers
including 19,400 women farmersunderwent training in seed production.The project has also influenced
regional policies through enhanced cross-border sharing of information. This has helped facilitate the faster
release of climate-smart varieties and the broader sharing of seeds in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, especially
among poor farmers who are most affected by climate change.An estimated 140,000 tons of seed of these
varieties were produced between 2011 and 2013.

These seed releases are estimated to have reached over ten million farmers, covering over 2.5 million hectares
of rice land. said Dr. Ismail. This is double the initial target of 5 million farmers reached.IRRI collaborates
with more than 550 partners in getting climate-smart rice varieties to farmers in South Asia and Africa. These
partners include national agricultural research and extension programs, government agencies, nongovernment
organizations, and private sector actors, including seed producers.
Written by Lizbeth Edra.
Rice farmers face upstream battle (w/video)


Farmers in Colorado, Wharton and Matagorda counties have
depended on water from the Colorado River to irrigate their
crops for generations.The light soil in southeast Texas has a
high clay content, limiting the variety of crops that can be
grown.But with irrigation from the Colorado River and
upstream reservoirs built in the 1940s, rice has become a staple
in Colorado, Wharton and Matagorda counties.Dick Ottis, the
president of Rice Belt Warehouse Inc. based in El Campo, is a
third-generation Texas rice farmer.
His grandfather moved to Wadsworth, a small community south of Bay City, in 1910 and with his family built
the second commercial rice dryer in Texas in 1943."It's not just the rice. It's the people you work with. The
producers, the farmers - they are good people. They are fair and honest people, and I just enjoy working with
them because their word is their bond," Ottis said.Population growth and six years of drought have pitted the
needs of upriver municipalities with downriver agriculture.Though the Highland Lakes - which refers to the
reservoirs west of Austin, including Lake Buchanan and Lake Travis - have provided a source of water for
farmers for decades, downriver farmers have been cut off from the reservoirs for the past three years.
And last week, the state environmental agency proposed changes to theLower Colorado River Authority's water
management plan that would cut farmers off to more water in the future."I'm not real happy with the way that
the upper basin has dealt with this. I certainly want them to have water to survive," Ottis said. "What they're
getting ready to do is showing a lack of concern for people in the lower basin."In 2011, the stream flows into
the Highland Lakes were the lowest on record. That same year, agricultural water users absorbed 61 percent of
all water used from the Highland Lakes, or 433,251 acre feet.Whereas agriculture was the biggest water user in
2011, municipal use has since taken the lion's share.Farmers in Colorado, Wharton and Matagorda counties
have been forced to drill water wells, find ways to make their crops more water efficient, and in some cases,
replace rice with corn or other crops."The people who drill water wells have been very busy the last couple of
years.
This, in my mind, is a temporary solution to the problem," Ottis said. "We're going to keep pushing those straws
into our aquifer and exhaust the resource."Replacing rice with corn has also meant cutting down on employees
because rice is a more labor-intensive crop to dry than corn. Ottis has had to lay off 20 percent of his
employees, he said."I've had to let go of some people, and that's been devastating to me," Ottis said. "If we don't
get the water soon, there might be more of that going on."Under the proposed measures, the Lower Colorado
River Authority would cut off downstream agricultural water when lakes Buchanan and Travis fall below 45
percent capacity.
The reservoirs are 35 percent full - 2 percent lower than the lowest point in 2011. Full capacity for the lakes is
2.01 million acre-feet of water.The river authority will review the state's proposal during the next two to three
months, wrote Bill Lauderback, Lower Colorado River Authority executive vice president for public affairs, in a


prepared statement.By late summer, the state will provide its final recommendation and give an opportunity for
the public to comment or request a hearing in the fall."I certainly think that farmers are not only essential for
employment but also for food. I certainly understand the curtailing of the water, but I think it should be shared,"
Ottis said. "I guess I do a lot of praying the Lord will send some rain up there. Until then, we will have to suffer
through this thing."
The First GMO Field Tests
From their very first field test in 1987, GMOs have been the subject of intense debate. What we fight about
when we fight about GMOs.
By Brooke Borel
In the spring of 1987 in Tulelake, a tiny California farming town four
miles from the Oregon border, a small band of scientists wearing yellow
Tyvek suits and respirators paced across a field spraying potato plants
from handheld dispensers. Representatives from the Environmental
Protection Agency perched on ladders above and checked air monitors
to make sure the contents of the dispensers werent spreading beyond
the fields boundaries. Dressed in billowy white safety jumpers and
peaked caps, the EPA agents looked like apocalyptic bakers.
Nearby, journalists eagerly took notes and snapped photos of this eerie
scene, which would become national news this was the worlds first field experiment of a controversial new
technology: genetically modified organisms.
Benign Beginnings
The organism in the Tulelake test was a modified version of the bacterium Pseudomonas syringae, or ice-minus.
In its natural state, P. syringae is a common pathogen to many plants. In the mid-seventies a doctoral student at
the University of Wisconsin named Steven Lindow discovered that the bacteria caused plants to freeze at higher
temperatures than normal. A few years later, Lindow moved to the University of California, Berkeley, and he
and his new team began to peer inside the bacteria for the gene that promoted frost in plants something that
cost farmers $1.5 billion a year in crop damage.


They found and deleted that gene, creating modified bacteria that didnt encourage frost. If the modified
bacteria were released in a field, the reasoning went, they might
outcompete native bacteria and keep crops from freezing in a cold
snap. By 1982, the scientists were busy planning field tests to see if
their genetically engineered bacteria could help crops fight frost.In
preparation for Tulelake, Lindows team conducted dozens of safety
experiments, first for the National Institutes of Health, which
regulated all genetic engineering at the time, and later for the EPA.
These tests examined, for example, how ice-minus might affect local
flora and whether the wind could carry it into the environment.
In Smithsonian, science journalist Stephen S. Hall wrote at the time:
No test or data suggested the bacteria were capable of causing
disease in people, animals or plants beyond its well-established host range.

The Fight Begins
Despite the good intentions and low risks,
environmentalists were wary of ice-minus and
blocked the field tests through four years of
protest and litigation, prompting congressional
hearings and more safety tests. The lawsuits were
spearheaded by the most prominent genetic-
engineering skeptic of the era, the political
activist Jeremy Rifkin. Lindows experiments
were thorough, but no test could rule out all
potential problems. Rifkin didnt see the point in
accepting even a sliver of uncertainty.
1
21Environmental Protection Agency representatives take an air sample. Courtesy Steven Lindow, the
University of California, Berkeley.
2A plant destroyed by frost. Courtesy Steven Lindow, the University of California, Berkeley.
3Berkeley researchers plant pieces of potatoes coated in ice-minus bacteria. Courtesy Steven Lindow, the
University of California, Berkeley.


The argument fit into a common pattern for new
technologies, which is a difference of opinion on
how to assess risk. The scientific perspective is
that if tests say the risk is low, its reasonable to
proceed. Its impossible to rule out all possible
negative outcomes; to require it would mean
halting all scientific and technological progress.
Consumer advocates are typically much more
leery of any potential risk though both sides
always want to minimize possible dangers.
Both sides have their points. Without the long and dangerous history of chemical rocket propellant research,
space exploration would be impossible. Then again, ask the residents of Three Mile Island how they feel about
acceptable levels of risk.

Without the long and dangerous history of chemical rocket propellant research, space exploration would be
impossible. Then again, ask the residents of Three Mile Island how they feel about acceptable levels of risk.
In the case of ice-minus, there was a lot of playing to peoples fears and capitalizing on a lack of familiarity
with science and how it works in order to make what was really an incredibly small probability of a problem
sound more dire than it actually was, former Smithsonian writer Hall tells Modern Farmertoday. And that is a
very current problem. The whole issue of risk assessment and probability and how that is viewed by
scientists versus the public is a continuing and perhaps unresolvable dilemma.

The actions of a small California biotech company called Advanced Genetic Sciences didnt help the publics
perception of ice-minus. AGS licensed Lindows technology under the name Frostban, and according to
Halls Smithsonian piece, the company tested the product on trees on the roof of its Oakland headquarters
without official permission. The EPA slapped AGS with a $13,000 fine, and the environmentalists had a new
reason to distrust companies involved in GMOs.
Despite the corporate missteps and litigations, the government eventually approved the ice-minus tests, but
required strict scrutiny, hence the ghostly moonsuits and air-monitoring towers. Lindows team coated several
thousand pieces of potato with the bacteria and then planted them in the Tulelake field. Before he could move to
the second stage, which was to spray bacteria on the leaves of the sprouted seedlings, trespassers uprooted
around half of the potatoes. The scientists replanted and sat guard by night from a van parked nearby. Vandals


slashed the vans tires, according to Lindow. Further south in Brentwood, a sanctioned test by AGS involving
ice-minus and strawberry plants also faced abuse.
We werent too surprised, says Lindow of the protests. It was a very high visibility thing there was lots of
press on it and a lot of concerned people. But we were surprised that they went to that step, to do something
physical.
Ice-minus never went commercial, partly because of regulatory hurdles and partly because there were natural
bacteria products that did the same job (although ice-minus worked a little better). But nearly 30 years later the
fight over GMOs continues. Theres growing scientific consensus on the technologys safety,
but skepticism has deepened and GMO crops have been ripped out of fields from the United Kingdom to the
Philippines. Some scientists and journalists involved in the debate say it has become increasingly polarized,
with one extreme asserting that the technology will save the world and the other claiming the opposite.

What We Fight About When We Fight About GMOs

Why have GMOs captured the collective imagination? They arent our only high-tech agricultural approach, or
anywhere near as pressing a concern as climate change. Still, its this specific technology that has struck a
nerve. Nathanael Johnson, the food writer at Grist who wrote an in-depth series on GMOs last year, suggests the
reaction comes from a heightened concern over where our food comes from, which coincided with the rise of
the GMO.

Why have GMOs captured the collective imagination? They arent our only high-tech agricultural approach, or
anywhere near as pressing a concern as climate change. Still, its this specific technology that has struck a
nerve.
We are so alienated from our food supply and we have no clue about the realities of modern agriculture,
Johnson says. There has been this awakening over the past 30 years or so a realization that things have
really changed down on the farm. Maybe this is why people latched onto GMOs. They were the hot technology
that was happening as people were becoming more aware and interested.
Concern continues to grow over our modern globalized and industrialized agricultural system, from the impact
of factory farming and monocultures to food safety. There are broader questions, too. Should seeds be patented?


Is it good or bad to have multinational corporations own vital swaths of the food supply?Climate change and
a skyrocketing global populationgive these conversations a sense of urgency.
GMOs have become a proxy for these legitimate worries, says Keith Kloor, a science journalist who has
chronicled the GMO conversations for the past several years on his Discover blog. But its difficult to have a
nuanced and complicated discussion about our food system, and so GMOs are an easy target for venting
frustrations. Add in the Internet and social media, nonexistent in 1987 during the ice-minus debate, and a
worrying URL or meme spreads almost instantly.
One reason it has been easy to talk about GMOs this way is because they are treated as a monolithic category,
says Amy Harmon, a reporter at the New York Times who has written extensively about the technology and its
social implications. This is partly because people dont trust Monsanto, which has cast a shadow on modern
GMOs just as AGSs covert rooftop tests rattled the publics nerves over ice-minus. In many minds, GMOs
equal Monsanto, and Monsanto equals evil.

While Monsanto has cornered most of the GMO market with its insect-resistant and herbicide-tolerant crops,
each of which has environmental costs and benefits, there is also the virus-resistant papaya that helped save an
entire industry in Hawaii and the ongoing work from the University of Florida and other academic
institutions that aims to save oranges from the plant disease citrus greening. These projects (not undertaken by
Monsanto) are only alike in the technology they use. They differ in that each GMO has its own agricultural
merit, as well as its own risk. And, like ice-minus, each goes through a litany of tests to make sure that risk is a
small as possible.
With the right applications and the right risk assessments, technology isnt the antithesis of sustainability it
can help build an ecologically based agriculture, too, says Pamela Ronald, a plant geneticist at the University of
California, Davis. Ronald was a graduate student at Berkeley during ice-minus, and her research today focuses
on genetically engineering rice for disease resistance and flood tolerance.
We really need to consider the three pillars of sustainable agriculture, which are social, economic, and
environmental, she says. We must ask how we can reduce harmful inputs into the environment, how we can
help rural communities thrive, how farms can make a profit, how we can conserve soil and water. And I think
that this obsession with how seeds are developed is really a big distraction.
A Shift in Perspective?


Despite the gridlock in the GMO debate, which in many ways is still deeply polarized, there are hints that it
may be easing. I do think there is a middle ground emerging, says Tom Philpott, the food and
agriculturecorrespondent at Mother Jones and a GMO critic. Debating this one technology into the ground I
dont think its that fruitful. There are way, way bigger problems and I think the proper debate is where GMOs
fit in to the way we address the bigger problems.
Theres more evidence of this shift. Doug Gurian-Sherman, a senior scientist with the Union of Concerned
Scientists one of the few scientific organizations that takes a skeptical view of GMOs tells Modern
Farmer that his group isnt actually fundamentally opposed to the technology. He also says that health risks and
environmental impacts are not his primary concern, although hes pushing to minimize them further. Instead,
the UCS simply wants better federal regulation to manage potential risks, no matter how small.

Nathanael Johnsons Grist series, which pushed beyond heated talking points for a more detailed look at GMOs,
also suggests change. While the response was mixed, that an environmental publication like Grist would publish
the series at all is telling. And more recently, a post on The New Yorker Elements blogexplicitly noted a
breakthrough in a Berkeley classroom between Pamela Ronald and the food journalist Michael Pollan, who has
been highly critical of GMOs. With most science journalists questioning GMO skepticism, Pollan told the
publication: I feel pretty lonely among my science-writing colleagues in being critical of this technology, at
this point.
Even Mark Bittman, the food columnist at the New York Times and a GMO critic, recently wrote: But the
technology itself has not been found to be harmful, and we should recognize the possibility that the underlying
science could well be useful (as dynamite can be useful for good), particularly with greater public investment
and oversight.

Perhaps these small movements will give way to a more interesting conversation. Despite differences in
opinions on the specifics, the scientists and journalists that Modern Farmer spoke with want to move in the
same direction towards addressing regulatory holes, streamlining the assessment of GMOs and tackling a
failing patent system that stymies research. Others wondered whether or not GMOs are even necessary to feed
the world. And if the technology is necessary or at least helpful, maybe there should be more of a push
towards GMOs as an open-source public good rather than one controlled by corporate interests.
Wherever the conversation leads, how will we look back on todays agricultural debates in 30 years? Which of
our talking points will still be in rotation and which will be relics like the Tyvek suits and respirators of
Tulelake?


I think whenever you confront the introduction of a new technology theres a natural inclination to proceed
very carefully and almost haltingly, says Hall, the author of the 1987 Smithsonian piece on ice-minus,
speaking today.
When I look at the photographs now of the guys in the moonsuits spraying the potato plants and think of the
message it sent it must have looked scary. But they were only doing it from an excess of caution required by
the regulatory agencies. And in retrospect, although the degree of caution was probably excessive, it also
probably makes sense the first time youre doing it. Now, it seems a little bit less logical.
(Photo at top: Berkeley plant scientists spraying a field of potatoes with ice-minus, a genetically engineered
bacteria that prevents frost, in 1987. Courtesy Steven Lindow, the University of California, Berkeley.)

FEATUREPLANTS AND ANIMALSGMOSPOTATOES
TPP Trade Ministers Meet in Singapore; Still Seeking Agreement

Is that progress I see?
SINGAPORE -- Nearly all trade ministers of the 12 countries seeking to reach a Trans-Pacific Partnership
(TPP) trade agreement met earlier this week. Ministers are negotiating a broad free-trade agreement, but
progress continues to be stalled pending agreement between the United States and Japan on market access
issues for autos and light trucks - a key "offensive issue" for both countries - and agricultural products where the
United States is on the offensive and Japan has a defensive, or protectionist, position.
As at previous TPP meetings, USA Rice was represented. Michael Rue, a California producer and vice
chairman of the USA Rice International Trade Policy committee, and COO Bob Cummings attended. An
agreement in the near term is unlikely given divergent positions of key TPP countries on range of market access
issues.USA Rice is seeking improvement in the quantity of U.S. rice available to Japan's market as well as
significant improvement of our access so that consumers and end users, and not the Japanese government,
decide the type and form of U.S. rice imported.
Rue and Cummings met with U.S. negotiators and congressional staff representatives to discuss rice market
access. "The TPP negotiations are the best opportunity in a generation to gain significant and lasting
improvements in access for U.S. rice," said Rue. "We will continue to educate U.S. negotiators and Congress
about the importance of an acceptable TPP agreement that delivers real benefits for U.S. rice producers and marketers."


U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman announced that TPP countries will meet again in July at the level of chief
negotiators. No date or location for this meeting was announced.
Contact: Bob Cummings, (703) 236-1473
Weekly Rice Sales, Exports Reported
WASHINGTON, DC -- Net rice sales of 64,500 MT for 2013/2014 were up noticeably from the previous and from the
prior four-week average, according to today's Sales Export Highlights report. Increases were reported for Japan (25,300
MT), Haiti (14,300 MT), Mexico (10,500 MT) El Salvador (6,300 MT, including 6,800 MT switched from unknown
destinations and decreases of 500 MT), and Costa Rica (5,000 MT). Decreases were reported for unknown destinations
(7,400 MT). Exports of 90,600 MT were up 5 percent from the previous week and 42 percent from the prior four-week
average. The primary destinations were Mexico (37,100 MT), Haiti (14,300 MT), Japan (13,400 MT), Honduras (9,100
MT), and El Salvador (6,300 MT).This summary is based on reports from exporters from the period May 9-15.
CME Group/Closing Rough Rice Futures
CME Group (Preliminary): Closing Rough Rice Futures for May 22

Month Price Net Change
July 2014 $15.320 + $0.050
September 2014 $14.500 + $0.035
November 2014 $14.590 + $0.025
January 2015 $14.735 + $0.005
March 2015 $14.840 + $0.060
May 2015 $14.840 + $0.060
July 2015 $14.840 + $0.060


Fast & Furious Weeknight Cooking: Spinach and Pea Fried Rice
By Erin Alderson
For the Mercury News
When I moved out to California, I began working for myself -- it
was a scary proposition, but I felt ready and took the plunge.
Things have worked out, but I was a bit naive about certain
aspects of the work. Somehow, I thought I'd have plenty of time
to go to the gym, take a day or two off and snowboard and spend
some extra time cooking. Oh, how wrong I was. It's tough to
squeeze gym time and healthy cooking into busy days.I love
including whole grains in my meals, but I'm also the first to admit
that grains can slow down what might otherwise be a quick meal.
My cheat? I plan meals ahead of time and cook up large batches
of grains on the weekend. These grains end up in salads, topped
with eggs for breakfast, or mixed with vegetables and beans for
dinner. I vary the grains I use, but I almost always have a batch of brown rice ready to turn into spicy rice bowls
and this fried rice dish. The eggs give it a nice protein boost, and on occasion, I'll add cooked shrimp for my
nonvegetarian husband. Don't feel like shelling peas? Frozen peas will work in a pinch.
SPINACH AND PEA FRIED RICE
Serves 2
2 tablespoons peanut oil, divided
1/2 bunch scallions, including some of the green stalks, diced
1 cup peas
2 cups cooked brown rice
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon mirin


1 1/2 cups shredded spinach
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1. In a large skillet set over low heat, heat 1 tablespoon oil. Stir in diced scallions and peas, cooking until warm,
2 to 3 minutes. Stir in brown rice, soy sauce, rice vinegar and mirin, cooking for 2 to 3 more minutes to fry the
rice. Add the shredded spinach, stirring and cooking until spinach starts to wilt slightly.
2. Create a large well in the center of the rice; add remaining tablespoon of oil. Whisk eggs in a bowl, then pour
them into the well. Cook the eggs, stirring occasionally, until set, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in sesame seeds and black
pepper. Serve hot.
Sacramento blogger Erin Alderson writes Naturally Ella (naturallyella.com), a seasonal, whole foods and
vegetarian-centric recipe site for the whole family.

Image: This spinach and pea-fried rice rice makes a delicious, one-bowl dinner. ( Erin Alderson )

EAC probes rice import duty decision

Published on Friday, 23 May 2014 00:19
Written by FINNIGAN WA SIMBEYE
DECISION by Rwanda and Uganda to impose 75 per cent import duty on Tanzanian rice exports in
contravention of East African Community (EAC) Customs Union Protocol is under scrutiny.Responding to
Tanzanias rice exporters, the EAC Secretariat said in a statement on Thursday that: We know the issue and
that the countries are negotiating a settlement.Under EAC Customs Union, rice originating from Tanzania is
supposed to attract no import duty in both Rwanda and Uganda.
The EAC Secretariat did not give details on the status of the talks and when will a final decision be arrived at.
Kilombero Plantation Limited (KPL)s Chief Executive Officer, Carter Coleman said the Rwandan and
Ugandan tariffs are illegal although the two countries are citing rice imports from Asia which entered the
domestic market last year.While the government of Tanzania got the rice exemption from the EAC Council of
Ministers, the Ugandan and Rwandan tariffs are surely illegal, Mr Coleman said in an email response.He said


local rice producers are struggling to dispose of their commodity at a profit because the domestic market is still
saturated with the product due to a bumper harvest and imports.
The East African Community (EAC) should stop the Rwanda and Uganda revenue authorities from the illegal
75 per cent tariff that Uganda and Rwanda are still levying on Tanzania rice as a result of last years
exemption, he pointed out.Coleman warned that such arbitrary tariff hikes affect regional trade as defined by
EA Customs Union Protocol. Early last year, the government endorsed a 60,000 metric tons of rice imports
from Asian to offset an artificial deficit created by traders seeking to import the cheap commodity from
Asia.After almost half of the rice imports entered the domestic market, local farmers denounced the move after
prices plummeted by close to 50 per cent.KPL which works with over 20,000 smallholder farmers still has
1,000 tonnes of rice from the 2012 season and another 5,000 tonnes from last season which is struggling to sell
in the domestic market. Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives Minister, Eng.
Christopher Chiza suspended the rice imports in March of last year following complaints from local producers
and donors.Eng. Chiza said the government had approved the imports to help lower prices as local rice farmers
were accused of hoarding the commodity which forced prices to peak at over 2,000/- a kilogram and was feared
to fuel inflation.
Miscellaneous More :World Rice News 05.22.2014
22.05.2014
Vietnam exported 181,000 tonnes of rice in the first half of May worth US$79.87 million, lifting the shipment
to date this year to 1.932 million tonnes worth US$845.38 million, Vietnam News agency (VNA) reported,
citing data from the Vietnam Food Association (VFA). The association stated that the average price for export
rice this month reached US$441.51 per tonne, down roughly US$21 per tonne against the same period last
month.
***
As Thailand's social-political crisis persists the cause and outcome having major implications on regional
and global food security a unique organic rice farming movement that has emerged from the kingdom's
primary rice-growing region, is reaching out to Phuket consumers. Conscious consumers in Phuket will have a
golden opportunity this evening to learn about the Yasothon-based Moral Rice network, a considerable new
alternative to the conventional agricultural order and supply chain that has caused so much strife.
***
Tensions between Beijing and Hanoi have slowed Vietnam's rice trade and pressured prices for the grain, while
plans to sell government stocks have made Thai rice more competitive, traders said on Wednesday. Vietnamese


rice prices eased as sales to its major buyer China have slowed because exporters were reluctant to commit to
new deals due to payment risks in the middle of a wrangle over territory in the South China Sea.

PhilRice unit to mitigate climate-change impact on farmers
Category: Agri-Commodities
21 May 2014
Written by Marvyn N. Benaning / Correspondent
THE Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) has formed the Climate Change Center (CCC) to plan and
implement measures to avoid adverse climatic effects to rice farmers.The CCC will conduct studies on
understanding climate to mitigate its impact on the rice industry.Earlier, the Department of Agriculture (DA)
mandated all its agencies to mainstream climate change in all programs, plans and budgets.Under last years
memo, Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala approved the Seven-Wide Programs on Climate Change
(SWPCC) to synchronize the efforts of bureaus and offices under the DA in climate-change adaptation and
mitigation.
The effects of climate change can be felt now more than ever. Our major concern in the center is to explore
various ways to help our farmers adapt to it, said Dr. Ricardo Orge, CCC director and program lead in coping
with climate change.Orge said the centers vision is for a climate-resilient farming system where enough food
will become available to every farming household at all times.Studies show that resilience to climate change
can be best achieved through diversification of sources of income. Within the context of ensuring household
food security and income, we want to develop a farming system that may withstand climate-related stresses and
is highly diversified but integrated to offer farmers alternative food sources and livelihood, Orge added.The
centers manpower is composed of agronomists, plant pathologists, engineers, social scientists communication
specialists and other rice researchers who study the recent climate patterns and its effects to rice farming.CCC is
expected to complement the goals of the institutes major programs such as coping with climate change,
farming without fossil-fuel energy and integrated rice-based agri-biosystems, among other projects that concern
climate-resiliency.
In its framework, the centers program hopes to generate new knowledge and information on climate change in
identified areas, develop climate-change adaptation, rice technologies and strategies, and explore other sources
of food and income. Specifically, the strategies will involve variety development, pest and nutrient
management, devising decision support tools, water harvesting and conservation, diversified/integrated farming,
area mapping and vulnerability studies.Despite the odds in our current weather conditions, we want to reassure
our farmers that PhilRice will always be sensitive to addressing their needs through our strengthened research
and development efforts. Their welfare is always our priority, Orge said. At present, the PhilRice CCC team
devised a master plan for immediate implementation to help farmers combat the impending threats of El Nio to
rice production.We have to concretize our plans, not just write about them. In this initiative [El Nio


assistance], PhilRice has started to do so and we believe we can still do more given with enough resources,
Orge said.
Rice mills threaten shutdown
The Karnataka State Rice Millers Association on Wednesday threatened to shut down operations if the
government failed to clear Rs. 62 crore due to rice mills for the supply of levy rice under the Anna Bhagya
Scheme.Briefing presspersons after a meeting, association executive president Vishwaradhya said that the 1,600
rice mills in the State are determined to observe a mill bandh agitation if their dues are not settled within a
week.This has caused concern among growers as paddy has started arriving at rice mills for hulling and the
threat by rice mills to stop operations may trigger a crisis.
Cash crunch
He said that the rice mills were facing cash liquidity crunch in carrying out their daily business as the
government has not paid all their dues towards the supply of levy rice for the scheme in the last three
months.About 80 mills were on the verge of closure as their money was held up with the government, he
said.He said that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has not given them an appointment for a meeting, though they
wanted to bring the issue to his notice.Association secretary N. Srinivas Rao said that the rice mills had supplied
rice worth Rs. 388.78 crore for the scheme.The government had paid Rs. 326.73 crore, while the balance is yet
to be cleared, he noted.
Keywords: Karnataka State Rice Millers Association, levy rice, Anna Bhagya Scheme
Genetically modified products of tomorrow: wheat, rice, even salmon?
AQUABOUNTY TECHNOLOGIES
The biotechnology company
AquaBounty in Maynard,
Mass., has produced a variety
of genetically engineered
Atlantic salmon that would
grow faster and bigger than
typical salmon. This photos
shows a size comparison of an
AquAdvantage salmon
(background) vs. a non-
transgenic Atlantic salmon
sibling (foreground) of the
same age.

22nd May, 2014 Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine

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