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RICE NEWS HEADLINES

Scientists discover wonder rice gene: International Rice Research Institute BOC not releasing rice yet Nagpur Foodgrain Prices Open-Dec 03 Thai protests turn a darker color Japan's rice farm reforms TABLE-India Grain Prices-Delhi-Dec 03 Rain brings cheer to farmers New Pusa variety to boost Basmati rice exports Iraq issues tender for at least 30,000 T rice
NEWS Detail
Scientists discover wonder rice gene: International Rice Research Institute
By AFP | 3 Dec, 2013, 01.34PM IST The SPIKE gene was first discovered by Japanese breeder, Nobuya Kobayashi, following long-running research starting in 1989 on a tropical "japonica" rice variety that is grown in Indonesia, Ebron said.MANILA: Scientists have discovered a wonder rice gene that could dramatically increase yields of one of the world's most important food crops, the International Rice Research Institute said Tuesday.
Preliminary tests show that yields of modern long-grain "indica" rice varieties, the world's most widely grown types of rice, can rise by 13-36 percent when infused with the so-called SPIKE gene, the Philippines-based institute said. "Our work showed that SPIKE is indeed one of the major genes responsible for the yield increase that breeders have spent so many years searching for," IRRI genetic transformation laboratory chief Inez Slamet-Loedin said in a statement. Testing of new rice varieties infused with the gene is under way across several developing countries in Asia, said rice breeder Tsutomu Ishimaru, head of the IRRI-led SPIKE breeding programme. "We believe that these will contribute to food security in these areas once the new varieties are released," Ishimaru said. Increasing the yield means growing more rice on the same
amount of land, using the same resources. But there is no definite timetable for when the rice containing the SPIKE gene will be distributed to farmers, according to IRRI spokeswoman Gladys Ebron. The SPIKE gene was first discovered by Japanese breeder, Nobuya Kobayashi, following long-running research starting in 1989 on a tropical "japonica" rice variety that is grown in Indonesia, Ebron told AFP. The findings of the study were published Monday. Tropical japonica rice is mainly grown in East Asia and accounts for just 10 percent of global rice production. Breeders from IRRI, a non-profit research group established in the 1960s, then worked to incorporate the gene into "indica" varieties that are widely used in major rice-growing areas of Asia. Ebron said the transfer did not involve genetical modification of the crop, a controversial issue in food production. "It's just conventional breeding," she added. Rice is the developing world's most important food crop, consumed by more than half of humanity, including 640 million Asians who live in poverty, according to IRRI. To keep rice prices stable and affordable at about $300 a tonne, the institute estimates production needs to increase by 810 million tonnes every year. Asia accounts for about 90 percent of global rice production, it added. IRRI is widely recognised as having played an important role in the "Green Revolution" of the 1960s in which new varieties of rice dramatically increased yields.
BOC not releasing rice yet

By Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon (The Freeman) | Updated December 3, 2013 - 12:00am
CEBU, Philippines - More than a week since the 16,000 bags of rice intended for residents of Isabel, Leyte were put on hold by the Bureau of Customs (BOC)-Cebu, the shipments documents as well as the rice samples are still under scrutiny.BOC-Cebu Law Division Chief Rico Rey Holganza said that based on the documents submitted by the Philippine Phosphate Fertilizer Corp. (Philphos), the shipment is actually already "okay" for release.He, however, said that he still has to wait for the Enforcement and Security Services of the Customs Police to submit its findings on the said shipment.It was known that the Customs Police submitted samples of the rice to the International Rice Research Institute in Los Baos, Laguna to determine whether the rice is either of local or imported variety."Samtang wala pa na ang (Pending that) findings, dili ko makahatag og pinal nga rekomendasyon kung (I cannot give a final recommendation to) e-release ba na ang bugas o dili (the rice or not)," said Holganza.It was the Customs Police that issued an alert order and held the rice shipment onboard
MV Queen of Joy, which is still docked at Pier 2 in Cebu City.Philphos is listed as consignee of the shipment, which Isabel, Leyte Mayor Marcos Gregorio Cerillo said is intended as relief goods for his 40,000 constituents affected by super typhoon Yolanda.Ramon Tan, president of Isabel, Leyte's Association of Barangay Councils and Philphos' port operations vice president, had also said that the shipment was from Manila and was bound for his town. The ship, however, first made a stop in Cebu City to get 12,000 packs of relief goods coming from Senator Alan Peter Cayetano here for distribution in Isabel's neighboring towns.Philphos, who has a manufacturing plant in Isabel, has been extending help by giving relief goods in the town. Based on a receipt from Maunlad Rice Mill, the company has paid P27.1 million for the said rice shipment.BOC-Cebu has put on hold the shipment since Nov. 24 after Philphos at that time failed to show or submit a certificate of donation from the Department of Social Welfare and Development and shipping permit from the National Food Authority.Cerillo and Tan last Saturday appealed to Customs officials for the immediate release of the shipment, pleading that their constituents may go hungry especially that that their current relief packs are only good for a week. Cerillo said Philphos has been helping the people after the typhoon since the relief goods coming from the national government only arrived on the 11th day after super typhoon Yolanda struck Leyte last Nov. 8.The BOC had suspected that the rice was smuggled, especially that no documents were submitted when it arrived in Cebu.Tan had said that it is impossible that they would engage in rice smuggling, considering that their business is fertilizer.The mayor also attested that the shipment is meant as relief assistance for his constituents, who lost their homes and livelihood when Yolanda wrecked havoc in his town and other parts of the Visayas.-/RHM (FREEMAN)
Nagpur Foodgrain Prices Open-Dec 03

Tue Dec 3, 2013 2:19pm IST Nagpur, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Gram prices in Nagpur Agriculture Produce and Marketing Committee (APMC) suffered heavily on lack of demand from local millers amid high moisture content arrival. Easy condition on NCDEX, downward trend in Madhya Pradesh gram prices and profit-taking selling by stockists at higher level also pushed down prices, according to sources. * * * *
FOODGRAINS & PULSES GRAM * Gram varieties ruled steady in open market in on subdued demand from local traders amid ample supply from producing regions.
TUAR * Tuar gavarani declined further in open market in absence of buyers amid increased overseas supply. * Masoor varieties zoomed up in open market on increased demand from local traders amid tight supply from producing regions because of unseasonal rains damaged crops. * Udid varieties reported down in open market on lack of demand from local traders amid good supply from producing regions. * In Akola, Tuar - 4,400-4,550, Tuar dal - 6,600-6,800, Udid at 4,800-5,100, Udid Mogar (clean) - 5,700-6,000, Moong - 6,800-7,200, Moong Mogar (clean) 7,700-7,900, Gram - 3,300-3,500, Gram Super best bold - 4,400-4,600 for 100 kg. * Wheat, rice and other commodities remained steady in open market in thin trading activity, according to sources. Nagpur foodgrains APMC auction/open-market prices in rupees for 100 kg FOODGRAINS Available prices Previous close Gram Auction 2,400-2,690 2,440-2,800 Gram Pink Auction n.a. 2,100-2,600 Tuar Auction n.a. 3,800-4,050 Moong Auction n.a. 4,300-4,500 Udid Auction n.a. 4,300-4,500 Masoor Auction n.a. 2,600-2,800 Gram Super Best Bold 4,400-4,600 4,400-4,600 Gram Super Best n.a. Gram Medium Best 3,750-4,100 3,750-4,100 Gram Dal Medium n.a. n.a. Gram Mill Quality 3,500-3,600 3,500-3,600 Desi gram Raw 3,100-3,300 3,100-3,300 Gram Filter Yellow n.a. n.a. Gram Kabuli 7,700-10,000 7,700-10,000 Gram Pink 7,700-8,100 7,700-8,100 Tuar Fataka Best 6,700-6,900 6,700-6,900
Tuar Fataka Medium 6,400-6,600 6,400-6,600 Tuar Dal Best Phod 6,200-6,300 6,200-6,300 Tuar Dal Medium phod 5,800-6,000 5,800-6,000 Tuar Gavarani 4,300-4,400 4,400-4,500 Tuar Karnataka 4,650-4,750 4,650-4,750 Tuar Black 7,200-7,300 7,200-7,300 Masoor dal best 5,400-5,500 5,200-5,300 Masoor dal medium 5,100-5,200 4,800-4,900 Masoor n.a. n.a. Moong Mogar bold 8,400-8,600 8,500-8,700 Moong Mogar Medium best 7,800-8,200 8,000-8,200 Moong dal super best 7,200-7,500 7,300-7,500 Moong dal Chilka 6,700-7,000 6,700-7,100 Moong Mill quality n.a. n.a. Moong Chamki best 7,000-7,400 7,200-7,400 Udid Mogar Super best (100 INR/KG) 6,500-6,800 6,800-7,000 Udid Mogar Medium (100 INR/KG) 5,800-6,200 6,100-6,400 Udid Dal Black (100 INR/KG) 5,200-5,700 5,500-5,900 Batri dal (100 INR/KG) 4,000-4,200 4,000-4,200 Lakhodi dal (100 INR/kg) 3,000-3,100 3,000-3,100 Watana Dal (100 INR/KG) 3,250-3,350 3,250-3,350 Watana White (100 INR/KG) 3,100-3,200 3,100-3,200 Watana Green Best (100 INR/KG) 5,700-6,300 5,700-6,300 Wheat 308 (100 INR/KG) 1,600-1,700 1,600-1,700 Wheat Mill quality(100 INR/KG) 1,800-1,850 1,800-1,8050 Wheat Filter (100 INR/KG) 1,700-1,900 1,600-1,800 Wheat Lokwan best (100 INR/KG) 1,850-2,300 1,850-2,300 Wheat Lokwan medium (100 INR/KG) 1,700-1,900 1,700-1,900 Lokwan Hath Binar (100 INR/KG) n.a. n.a. MP Sharbati Best (100 INR/KG) 3,100-3,600 3,100-3,600 MP Sharbati Medium (100 INR/KG) 2,600-2,900 2,600-2,900 Wheat 147 (100 INR/KG) 1,400-1,500 1,400-1,500 Wheat Best (100 INR/KG) 1,500-1,600 1,500-1,600 Rice BPT (100 INR/KG) 3,000-3,300 3,000-3,300 Rice Parmal (100 INR/KG) 1,850-1,900 1,850-1,900 Rice Swarna Best (100 INR/KG) 2,300-2,600 2,300-2,500 Rice Swarna Medium (100 INR/KG) 2,000-2,300 2,000-2,200
Rice HMT (100 INR/KG) 3,900-4,300 3,900-4,300 Rice HMT Shriram (100 INR/KG) 4,700-5,200 4,700-5,200 Rice Basmati best (100 INR/KG) 9,000-13,500 9,000-13,500 Rice Basmati Medium (100 INR/KG) 6,100-7,600 6,100-7,600 Rice Chinnor (100 INR/KG) 5,000-5,500 5,000-5,500 Rice Chinnor Medium (100 INR/KG) 4,900-5,100 4,900-5,100 Jowar Gavarani (100 INR/KG) 1,500-1,650 1,500-1,650 Jowar CH-5 (100 INR/KG) 1,800-1,900 1,800-1,900 WEATHER (NAGPUR) Maximum temp. 31.5 degree Celsius (88.7 degree Fahrenheit), minimum temp. 15.9 degree Celsius (60.6 degree Fahrenheit) Humidity: Highest - n.a., lowest - n.a. Rainfall : nil FORECAST: Partly cloudy sky. Maximum and Minimum temperature likely to be around 30 and 17 degree Celsius respectively. Note: n.a.--not available (For oils, transport costs are excluded from plant delivery prices, but included in market prices.)
Thai protests turn a darker color

By Pepe Escobar
BANGKOK - A protest leader, backed by a street revolt, demands that a sitting prime minister to step down, and, instead of calling new elections, to hand over power to an unelected "People's Council". The prime minister says she can't do it. Yet she hints she may self-depose and dissolve the current House of Representatives. This political thriller is actually developing, right now, in real time, in Thailand. The narrative should have a global audience at the edge of their seats; but the feeling is more one of perplexity because the plot is even more muddled than in the US cable TV sagas Homeland or Lost. On November 11, Thai Democrat Party MP Suthep Thaugsuban, a former deputy prime minister, resigned to lead a popular revolt.
against the administration of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. This past Sunday night was showdown time. Suthep gave a two-day ultimatum for Yingluck to "return power" to "the people". The ultimatum expires later today. And it's non-negotiable. Yet Yingluck herself admitted, "We don't know how to make it happen. Right now we don't see any way to resolve the problem under the constitution." Enter the Thai army. The Suthep-
Yingluck showdown was brokered by army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha. The heads of the navy and air force were also there. But then it was their turn to be perplexed as Suthep stuck to his "all or nothing" strategy. As it stands, only the Buddha knows what the army will do next; it has agreed only to meet later this week. Yingluck herself insists on its neutrality and commitment to "peace". Nobody knows what "peace" means under the current volatility. It could mean the peaceful "Occupy" of Government House grounds in Bangkok this Tuesday, as the prime minister, only one day after a major street battle in the capital, left to the beach resort of Hua Hin, some 200 kilometers south and at present home to King Bhumibol Adulyadej, whose 86th birthday will be celebrated on Thursday. Or it could mean just a pause in the shadow-play before the battle restarts next week.
Pick your shirt It's impossible to even begin to understand this Thai thriller without the context of an inexperienced prime minister totally out of her depth on every major dossier while the country is virtually run from a table at the Cafe Fauchon in Dubai by her exiled billionaire brother, Thaksin Shinawatra. How the protesters have been organized and financed, and what array of interests they serve, remains an extremely murky story. Suthep himself - from a family of wealthy landowners in the southern province of Surat Thani - is part of the Thai elite. He's been an MP since 1979. The fact that so far he has not been arrested - although now there's a Criminal Court warrant on an "insurrection" charge, carrying the death penalty - implies significant backing, especially from forces active in the 2006 military coup against then prime minister Thaksin. Still, the facts on the ground point to Thaksinism - or what the protesters define as the "Thaksin regime" - only having itself to blame for the whole drama. Thaksinism - via Pheu Thai, its latest political party incarnation - won the 2011 elections, securing over 48% of the popular vote. It's unclear how many of these were "reward" votes - as in the trademark Thaksinism patronage of using the entire government network to reward an array of clients, plus its variations, from widespread cash vote-buying to more discreet tactics such as rice pledging. Thaksinism may afford money politics because the star of the show, after all, is a billionaire. In spite of it all, there was some measure of stability in Thailand for the past two years. But then, about a month ago, the plot thickened - via a monstrous miscalculation. It started with a shady amnesty bill that would in the end have absolved Thaksin from convictions for corruption and abuse of power. The bill was easily approved by the Pheu Thai majority in the lower house but was finally killed in the Senate, when the Yingluck administration finally noticed how unpopular it was even with its own "red shirt" brigades; those actors the "red shirts" deem responsible for the violent repression against their street demonstrations in Bangkok in May 2010 would also be pardoned.
Thaksinism also pushed a constitutional amendment to change the Senate from half-appointed to fully elected. The Constitutional Court duly vetoed it. In Thailand, Constitutional Court judges swear an oath of allegiance to the King. heir key argument against a fully elected Senate is that it would become a replica of the free-for-all money politics of the lower house. Predictably, the Pheu Thai Party refused to accept the Court's verdict; after all, this was the same court that had already dissolved Thaksinism's previous political parties. The whole government-instigated drive to bring Thaksin home could not but be the certified issue capable of amassing a lot of angry people in the streets of Bangkok all over again. Suthep then formed and led the "People's Democratic Reform Committee", which evolved from anti-corruption street protests to the recent occupation of government ministries and state agencies.Over a week ago, hundreds of thousands of people in this sort of Occupy Thailand movement were demonstrating peacefully in Bangkok by blowing their whistles. By then, though, the opposition Democrat Party was sniffing blood - and the precious opportunity to turn an anti-corruption movement into a regime change operation. So it's back, in a sense, to the same color-coordinated fissure that's been the story of Thai politics since the mid-2000s; "red shirts" versus "yellow shirts", now joined by the protesters "Thai shirts" (emphasizing the red, white and blue of the national flag). This past weekend, people started to get killed - four is the figure given so far, with more than a hundred people injured. This op-edin the local English-language press convincingly argued the implied responsibility of the Yingluck administration. (Suthep and then prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva already face what they call politicallymotivated murder charges over the deaths of pro-Thaksin and other protesters in 2010.) .As it stands, Yingluck's promise to self-depose may be just a ruse by her advisers to buy time. They know that even if that happened, it would be the sign for the "red shirt" protest wave to swell all over again, just as in 2009 to 2010. A rational way out, supported by an array of Thai scholars, would be for Yingluck to apologize to the nation for the amnesty bill, accept the ruling by the Constitutional Court, and announce an election for mid-2014. Yet Thaksinism knows - as much as Suthep and the forces behind him - that that would translate into yet another Thaksinism victory, just like the previous four elections. Thus Suthep's insistence in his "People's Council". Lost in all the rumble, of course, remains how to conduct the fight against endemic corruption all across the Thai political spectrum and how to ensure that the Constitutional Court and the anti-corruption commission are really impartial. Thailand as Ukraine in reverse Western corporate media coverage of Thailand has been beyond appalling. Pro-EU protesters in Ukraine against their government are depicted as righteous heirs of the Orange Revolution, while in Thailand political protesters are nothing but a "mob". Anyone surveying the images sees how the Thai police have been using the same methods of crowd control as in the Ukraine. Not to mention that Ukrainian hardcore thuggery was replicated in Thailand by the infamous "black shirts". Then there's the reductionist characterization of the "yellow shirts" as
the reactionary royalist middle class in Bangkok. Not really. Contradictions do abound when you are a prodemocracy protester wearing a Guy Fawkes mask, Occupy-style, while carrying a picture of the King. Yet protesters do include a cross-section of the roughly 40% of the Thai population which has consistently voted against Thaksinism. While droves of "red shirts" are bused from the countryside into Bangkok - enjoying free food and a fee - the lower middle class is also strong among the protesters, alongside urban young adults who include university students from elite families. A key question is why the central and southern Thailand lower middle class happens to align with the "yellows shirts" and not the "reds". A possible explanation is that government schemes mostly benefit the north and northwest. Then there's the extra complicating factor that the central and the southern regions depend on migrants from the north - as in the private-sector migrant workforce and the security apparatus. In Bangkok, there seems to be a rule that as protests remain peaceful, there's more middle class and even part of the elite in the streets. When it turns into street battles with the police, then it's mostly the "expendable" lower middle class that does all the fighting. The big puzzle of these current protests is that were they happening elsewhere in Southeast Asia, a lot of people would have been arrested. Not in Bangkok - even with police aligned with the Yingluck administration. (Antigovernment protesters who had laid siege to the headquarters of Bangkok's Metropolitan Police Bureau were allowed entry to the grounds on Tuesday after police dismantled barbed wire and concrete barriers, the Bangkok Post reported. Demonstrators were able to enter peacefully the grounds of Government House.)This points once again to Thaksinism's fear of bloodshed really bringing the government down. So whole socio-economic treatises could be written about protest dynamics in Thailand. Don't expect even a hint of nuance on Western corporate media. The definitive case of myopia, so far, revolves around what happened this past weekend on the other side of Bangkok, away from the protests. Thaksinism was holding its own "red shirt" 24/7 counter-rally in a stadium near Ramkhamhaeng University. Thousands of university students began protesting against the counter-rally. The clash was inevitable - and featured shady "black shirts" duly captured on photo and video shooting students.The fatalities this past weekend were in the university, not in the protests. University students as well as the university rector confirmed how a girl was attacked, then a boy was shot dead while the police did nothing, even though several students were under sniper fire by a "black shirt" captured on camera. It was up to the army to move in to protect the university. Talk to the billionaire No question; even "invisible", self-exiled Thaksin is the undisputed star of this thriller. For the rural poor masses in the north and northeast (the majority of the country's population, and his voting base), Thaksin is nothing but a billionaire Buddha. Outside Bangkok, Thailand remains essentially feudalistic. Thaksin was
always wily enough to position himself as the ultimate populist savior. No wonder the traditional political establishment in Bangkok felt threatened by a northern family who made its fortune in silk dispensing massive patronage and building an alternative state-within-a state. Even forced into exile after the 2006 military coup but virtually back in the saddle after Yingluck became prime minister in 2011 - Thaksin can always count on the finest PR money can buy. And all those crucial friends in Washington. As prime minister, in 2003, he offered Thai troops to the occupation of Iraq (the Thai Army, by the way, was totally against it). He also offered Thailand as a base for the CIA's extraordinary renditions. As for the widespread perception that Yingluck is Thaksin's puppet, that was in fact configured by the man himself when he described his sister, on the record, as his "clone". So all these elements are not going away: personality politics seducing a loyal clientele; Thaksin as a quasi-feudal family patriarch; the "red shirt" popular base fascinated by Thaksin's charisma; the autocratic, family-run operation trying to bypass the courts and deploying "red shirts" to do the dirty work. Yet there are no good guys/bad guys in this script. Everyone - including the opposition and the military - is tainted.Then there's the calendar. The celebrations of King Bhumibol's birthday on Thursday will go on until Sunday; traditionally in Thailand dirty political squabbles are off-limits during this period. On Tuesday, there were indications of a suspension of the theater performance, probably to be reopened next week. The current mess is extremely bad for business; no wonder the Thai Chamber of Commerce has desperately offered whatever mediation necessary. It's bad for the tourism industry (over 7% of GDP); Hong Kong travel agencies are already canceling package tours. The stalemate does nothing to improve Thailand's exports (60% of the economy), already down due to recession in the West and China's slightly slower growth. Dwindling exports are compressing the Yingluck administration's budget - already in trouble because of a failing rice subsidy, a credit bubble, and the need of massive investments in infrastructure. Just two months ago, the government put forward a 2 trillion baht (US$64 billion) infrastructure development bill to parliament covering high-speed rail, port and other projects, but even upgrades can highlight all-too-evident problems, as in the derailment of a train on Monday with the country's railways chief on board. On the other hand, some very interesting developments may lie ahead in the whole US "pivoting to Asia" drama. With Thailand polarized and the government in Bangkok paralyzed, Washington is paying more attention to the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam, not to mention the spectacular strategic opening of Myanmar, just as the Yingluck administration was turbo-charging its ties with China. Thaksin, by the way, is a Hakka ethnic Chinese. Beijing is characteristically silent about all the mess in Bangkok. Yet there's no question Beijing will keep betting on Bangkok as a key node in the larger Southern Silk Road. After all, the Chinese want to build a high-speed rail line north from Bangkok to Nong Khai, and there's plenty of extra investment as well. So Beijing bets on continuity and stability - as most of Southeast Asia carefully positions itself to reap tangible benefits from either the US or China, and preferably both. Yet much to the chagrin of those who love Thailand, all the main actors in the current incendiary thriller seem to care is to blindly plunge the country into
further paralysis and irrelevance. Pepe Escobar is the author of Globalistan: How the Globalized World is Dissolving into Liquid War (Nimble Books, 2007), Red Zone Blues: a snapshot of Baghdad during the surge (Nimble Books, 2007), and Obama does Globalistan (Nimble Books, 2009). He may be reached at pepeasia@yahoo.com.
Japan's rice farm reforms

Japan is trying to make its farms more efficient as it tries to form tariff-free zones with its global trading partners. That may lead to big changes for the country's most protected workers, rice farmers.Rice is a symbol of Japan's inefficiency, due to a government policy that pays over a million farmers to leave a third of their fields empty. The system has cost taxpayers 40 billion dollars since 1970, and makes Japanese rice more than twice as expensive as that grown in China."Rice policy has a very long history. First Japan relied on rice a lot and we need rice production so government encourages farmers to produce lots more rice. But we started to eat bread and other food then rice consumption started to decline then the original policy of the government became failure so supply of rice became too much," Naoyuki Yoshino, economics professor at Keio University, says.So much so that the government says Japan will have a surplus of 2.6 million tons by next June, the highest in 15 years.Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he wants small farmers to lease fields to collectives who can grow rice more cheaply with economies of scale and modern equipment. To encourage the move the government is phasing out some subsidies by 2016, a move that's been heralded by the media as the end of the four decade old system, known as "gentan".But one former Agriculture Ministry Official says the government announcement is just smoke and mirrors. He says the government is only ending subsidies announced a few years ago by the Democratic Party government and not those introduced 40 years ago by the LDP."The bureaucrats in the Ministry of Agriculture and the Diet members of the LDP who are experts are all consistent in insisting they will never abolish the gentan program and they will never lower the price of rice," Kazuhito Yamashita, Research Director of Canon Institute for Global Studies, says.And if Japan is not prepared to cut rice prices, the government will continue to face pressure from farmers who want to be protected from cheap imports with duties on foreign rice that run as high as 778%.
TABLE-India Grain Prices-Delhi-Dec 03

Tue Dec 3, 2013 2:08pm IST
TABLE-India Grain Prices - Delhi - Dec 03 Rates by Asian News International, New Delhi Tel: 011 2619 1464 Indicative Previous Grains opening close
(in rupees per 100 kg unless stated) ---------------------------------------------------------Wheat Desi 2,000-3,000 2,000-3,000. Wheat Dara 1,710-1,910 1,710-1,910. Atta Chakki (per 10 Kg) 215-240 215-240. Roller Mill (per bag) 1,825-1,925 1,810-1,910. Maida (per bag) 1,945-2,045 1,925-2,025. Sooji (per bag) 1,825-1,925 1,820-1,920. Rice Basmati(Sri Lal Mahal) 12,000 12,000. Rice Basmati(Lal Quila) 11,500 11,500. Rice Basmati(Common) 7,450-7,900 7,450-7,900. Rice Permal 2,400-2,550 2,400-2,550. Rice Sela 3,250-3,350 3,250-3,350. I.R.-8 2,350-2,450 2,340-2,440. Gram 3,150-3,450 3,150-3,450. Peas Green 3,350-3,550 3,350-3,550. Peas White 2,600-2,700 2,600-2,700. Bajra 1,300-1,550 1,300-1,550. Jowar white 1,850-2,100 1,850-2,100. Maize 1,540-1,840 1,550-1,800. Barley 1,350-1,400 1,350-1,400. Guwar 3,325-3,900 3,325-3,900. Source: Delhi grain market traders.
Iraq issues tender for at least 30,000 T rice

Reuters Middle East
BAGHDAD, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Iraq issued a tender to buy a minimum of 30,000 tonnes of rice, with long-grain supplies coming from the United States, Uruguay, Argentina, or Brazil and medium-grain from Spain, United States or Australia.The tender, which started on Dec 1, had a closing date of December 8, Iraq's trade ministry said, adding that offers must be valid until Dec. 12.Iraq is one of the world's largest importers of rice, much of which goes to supply a national food rationing programme. (Reporting by Raheem Salman; editing by Keiron Henderson).
Rain brings cheer to farmers

The HinduA
paddy field at Vayalur near Ramanathapuram. Photo: L. Balachandar
A second spell of rain in the last two days after a month-long dry period has brought cheer to farmers of this drought-prone district.Farmers who had raised paddy crops on 1.06 lakh hectares are keeping their fingers crossed as they were let down by the southwest monsoon for the second successive year and the northeast monsoon also played truant. As the crops started wilting in some blocks, the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) has stepped in with spraying of Pink Pigmented Facultative Methylotroph (PPFM) bacteria in a bid to mitigate the drought and save the crops.However, four days after launching the exercise, it started raining, bringing cheer to the farmers. The district received fairly widespread rainfall in all the blocks, Agriculture Department officials
said. The district received an average of 19.91 mm of rainfall on Sunday and 28.18 mm on Monday till 8 a.m. on both the days. Unlike during the first week of November when it rained only in few blocks this time it was widespread, the officials said.Against the total annual rainfall of 827 mm, the district received 526 mm so far, the officials said while expressing hope of another spell by month-end.The district should have received a total rainfall of 135.3 mm during the southwest monsoon period of July to September but received only 67.83 mm this year, they said.After the onset of northeast monsoon, it rained for two days on November 1 and 2 and again on November 7. But the rains were confined to Ramanathapuram (63.4 mm) and Thiruvadanai (24.2) blocks, the officials said.Farmers in Parakamudi, RS Mangalam and Nainarkoil had left the wilted crops for cattle to graze and started re-ploughing for sesame sowing when the second spell of rains arrived much to their glee. This rain would help paddy growers and also chilli growers. It was not a soaking rain but good enough for chilli transplantation, the officials said. Chilli is grown on about 22,000 hectares in the district, they said. Keywords: Ramanathapuram farmers, Tamil Nadu rains, northeast monsoon
New Pusa variety to boost Basmati rice exports

Pusa Basmati 1509 was commercialised in kharif sowing season this year for the first time
With the commercialisation of the new Pusa Basmati 1509 variety, exports of basmati rice from India are set to exceed four million tonnes (mt) this year, 11 per cent more than last year.Developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute last year, Pusa Basmati 1509 was commercialised in the kharif sowing season this year. With an estimated output of 30,000 tonnes, the new variety offers a yield of 6.5 tonnes a hectare, against the popular Pusa 1121 varietys yield of 4.5 tonnes a hectare.India can achieve total basmati exports of about four mt this year, against 3.5 mt in the previous year, owing to robust demand from importing regions, including the West Asia, the UK, and the US, said M P Jindal, president of All India Rice Exporters Association. At Rs 16,523.87 crore, guar gum led the list of Indian agri exports in 2011-12, against Rs 15,449.6 crore for basmati rice. The trend continued in 2012-13guar gum exports stood at Rs 21,287.01 crore, against Rs 19,419.39 crore for basmati rice. This year, however, basmati rice is set to regain the top slot on the agri exports list, owing to a spurt in realisation and a sharp decline in guar gum prices. While guar gum prices
have fallen 85 per cent to about Rs 15,000 a quintal from Rs 1,00,000 a quintal two years ago, export realisation from basmati rice soared about 50 per cent to Rs 73,150 a quintal from Rs 48,610 a quintal during the same period.Gurnam Arora, joint managing director of Kohinoor Foods, the producer of Kohinoor brand basmati rice, said, Basmati rice farmers incomes have increased 30-50 per cent this year due to robust global and domestic demand. Globally, demand has outpaced supplies, leading to firm prices. Surprisingly, consumers have accepted the price spurt and, therefore, more price rises cannot be ruled out.A CARE Ratings study showed India's basmati rice exports grew at a compounded annual rate of 22 per cent during the four years ended 2011-12, driven by an increase in demand from the key importing countries of Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iraq and Kuwait. The study forecast a stable outlook for rice exporters this year on expectations of a good harvest in the 2013-14 crop year.Also, the demand outlook for the industry remains healthy, with increasing domestic consumption and export demand of basmati rice, given Indias dominant position in the global basmati rice segment. Jindal said this year, the procurement cost of basmati rice had risen to Rs 59 a kg from Rs 38 a kg last year.Therefore, farmers were the biggest beneficiaries of the price rise, he added.

3rd December, 2013 Daily Rice Global Rice Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine

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3rd December, 2013 Daily Rice Global Rice Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine

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3rd December , 2013

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paddy field at Vayalur near Ramanathapuram. Photo: L. Balachandar

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