Pesticide applicator training set for next week in DeWitt

The first training will be held Wednesday, Jan. 28, at Phillips Community College in DeWitt

starting at 1 p.m. Additional training dates are: Feb. 10, 6:30 p.m. at the Rice Research and

Extension Center; and Feb. 25, 1 p.m. at Phillips Community College, DeWitt. The trainings will

Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter www.ricepluss.com

January 21, 2015 Volume 5, Issue I

be for those needing re-certification as well as for those applying for a new license in order to

purchase restricted use pesticides. By Arkansas County Extension Service

for the Daily Leader

Posted Jan. 20, 2015 @ 3:25 pm

The Arkansas County Extension Service has scheduled educational meetings to assist farmers in getting

the training needed and latest production information for the 2015 cropping season.

Pesticide Applicator Training

The Arkansas County Extension Service will hold three Pesticide Applicator Training meetings in the

next few weeks, with different dates, locations and times so producers may be able to attend the training

of their choice. The first training will be held Wednesday, Jan. 28, at Phillips Community College in

DeWitt starting at 1 p.m. dditional training dates are: Feb. 10, 6:30 p.m. at the Rice Research and

Extension Center; and Feb. 25, 1 p.m. at Phillips Community College, DeWitt.

The trainings will be for those needing re-certification as well as for those applying for a new license in

order to purchase restricted use pesticides. Producers who need re-certification should receive a letter

from the State Plant Board informing them of the requirement for re-certification before a 2014 license

can be issued. Because of funding reductions by the EPA for the pesticide applicator training program, the

Cooperative Extension Service must charge private applicators for certification training.

The fee is $10 per person, payable at the door the day of the training. This certification registration fee is

in addition to the price you pay the Arkansas State Plant Board for the license. Please remember that in

most cases farmers will need the training only once every five years. Please make checks payable to: UA,

Cooperative Extension Service, Arkansas County

County Crop Production Meeting

The annual Arkansas County Crop Production Meeting will be held on Thursday, Feb. 5, at the Rice

Research and Extension Center, beginning at 8 a.m. The program will conclude with a catfish lunch at

noon. Additional program details will be provided prior to the meeting. For more information, call the

Arkansas County Extension Service at (870) 946-3231 or (870) 673-2346.

http://www.stuttgartdailyleader.com/article/20150120/NEWS/150129950

DA reduces aid on light farm gears, ups rice seeds subsidy to

Kalinga farmers

January 21, 2015

TABUK CITY, Kalinga, Jan.21 (PIA) - - Farmers of this rice-producing province will expect

less distribution of light farm machineries from the Department of Agriculture (DA) this year.Joe

Casibang, Rice Program Coordinator of the Office of Provincial Agriculturist

(OPAG), explained that the fund assistance intended for light machineries will be allocated

instead for the increased subsidy on rice seeds and other inputs to farmers for the period.DA used

to distribute light farm machineries like hand-tractors, threshers and multi-tillers to rice

farmers here under its Rice Production Enhancement Program.This year, DA will

implement 50 percent subsidy on the cost of rice seeds and will give free bags of urea and other

inputs to rice farmers.

The 50% counterpart of farmers on the cost of rice seeds will be remitted directly to their own

organization, not to DA.Any amount collected for the year shall accrue to the account of the

organization and can be used for the same purpose in the succeeding year, Casibang

disclosed. On farm machinery support, Casibang said the department will continue with the

distribution of heavy farm machineries like double rice harvesters and mechanical

planters.Under this support, DA awards the heavy farm machinery to farmer organizations. For

heavy machineries costing above P50,000, recipient organization shoulders 15% of the cost as

counterpart. (JDP/LL-PIA CAR,Kalinga)

http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/181421724998/da-reduces-aid-on-light-farm-gears-ups-rice-seeds-

subsidy-to-kalinga-farmers

Getting to Know the 114th Congress

Rep. Mike Conaway (l) meets

with Texas rice farmers during 2014 GAC

WASHINGTON, DC -- The 114thCongress was sworn

in earlier this month with 64 brand new Members, and

significant changes on committees, including Republican

chairmen in the Senate and new chairmen on many

House Committees. The task at hand now is to educate

the new Members and their staff about the U.S. rice

industry and the industry's priorities."We've already

begun our outreach and education efforts, but we will

use our upcoming Government Affairs Conference to

make a major advocacy push with Congress," said USA

Rice Federation Vice President of Government Affairs Ben Mosely. "Having our members in town

creates a perfect opportunity to tell rice's story on the Hill."

Mosely confirmed speaking invitations had been extended to Representative Mike Conaway (R-TX), the

new chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, and to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Under

Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Michael Scuse. "The GAC is a real learning

experience for everyone involved," said Dow Brantley, an Arkansas rice farmer and chairman of the USA

Rice Federation. "Our members attend informational sessions with legislators and government agency

officials where they get to meet face-to-face, talk about the U.S. rice industry, and educate these decision

makers on the areas that are important to us. It's a key component of our strategy."

Contact: Deborah Willenborg (703) 236-1444

CCC Announces Prevailing World Market Prices

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

today announced the following prevailing world market prices of milled and rough rice, adjusted

for U.S. milling yields and location, and the resulting marketing loan-gain (MLG) and loan

deficiency payment (LDP) rates applicable to the 2014 crop, which became effective today at

7:00 a.m., Eastern Time (ET). Prices are unchanged from the previous announcement.

World Price MLG/LDP

Rate

Milled Value

($/cwt) Rough

($/cwt) Rough ($/cwt)

Long-Grain 16.76 10.63 0.00

Medium-/Short-Grain 16.19 10.90 0.00

Brokens 10.11 ---- ----

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

yields and the corresponding loan rates:

U.S. Milling Yields

Whole/Broken

(lbs/cwt)

Loan Rate

($/cwt)

Long-Grain 55.83/12.59 6.50

Medium-/Short-Grain 62.39/7.92 6.50

The next program announcement is scheduled for January 28.

CME Group/Closing Rough Rice Futures

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

Month Price Net Change

March 2015 $11.370 +$0.105

May 2015 $11.620 + $0.100

July 2015 $11.850 + $0.095

September 2015 $11.480 + $0.100

November 2015 $11.580 + $0.060

January 2016 $11.865 + $0.055

March 2016 $11.865 + $0.055

Big firms to go for rice milling Sohel Parvez

Some local conglomerates plan to go for rice milling and

marketing as the staple has a constant demand in the country

of 16 crore people. ACI and City Group are preparing to set

up automatic rice mills, while Bashundhara Group is

planning to go for processing and marketing of parboiled

rice.“Our rice will hit the market by the yearend,” said Syed

Alamgir, executive director of consumer brands of ACI Ltd

that has business in sectors such as retail, agribusiness, food

items and pharmaceuticals.The mill will be set up at an

investment of Tk 39 crore, ACI said in a web posting on the

stock exchanges.Alamgir said they will bring "high quality" rice under the brand -- ACI

Pure.These large businesses, having good distribution networks, will debut in the market

following some food processing giants such as Pran, Square and Deshbandhu Group to tap the

growing demand for branded fine rice.Currently, around 500 automatic and semi-automatic rice

mills along with 17,000 husking mills are engaged in parboiling, drying and crushing paddy

bought from farmers.

Of the mills, more than 350 operators market rice under their own brands mainly in the fine rice

segment, said Md Layek Ali, general secretary of Bangladesh Auto, Major and Husking Mills

Association, which has around 17,000 members.These mills process and market at least 60

percent or three crore tonnes of the five crore tonnes of paddy produced a year in the country.

Farmers keep the rest of the produce for their own consumption, according to analysts and

millers.

The market for milling and processing of rice stands at around Tk 50,000 crore a year.Pran is

engaged in retailing its branded rice in smaller packs but it is not present in the branded bulk

segment catered mainly by automatic millers operating from the northwest region.“We want to

mill and market all types of rice -- from aromatic to coarse ones,” said Biswajit Saha, general

manager of City Group.“Presently we process and sell flour, cooking oil and sugar. That's why,

we want to go for rice so that we can fulfil all the needs of a kitchen,” Saha said.City plans to

market in urban areas, mainly in Dhaka city, he said, adding: “There is no big rice mill in Dhaka.

So there are prospects.”He said City is now in talks with a European machinery company to set

up the mill, which is going to be one of the biggest rice mills in Bangladesh.“Discussion is going

on regarding rice milling. This is now at the planning stage,” said Indrojit Kumar Mahalanabish,

head of division, plants of Bashundhara Food and Beverage Ltd, a concern of Bashundhara

Group.“Bangladesh is a country of 16 crore people.

As rice is a staple food, there are business prospects,” said Mahalanabish. Layek Ali of the mills'

association, however, expressed worries that the milling capacity might exceed the annual

production of paddy.“The market will be saturated and competition will intensify. As a result,

many small and medium husking mills will not survive making workers jobless,” Ali said.

Published: 12:00 am Thursday, January 22, 2015

Last modified: 12:24 am Thursday, January 22, 2015

TAGS: Bashundhara Group Syed Alamgir automatic rice mills parboiled rice executive director of

consumer brands

http://www.thedailystar.net/big-firms-to-go-for-rice-milling-61085

Agreement between rice farmers and millers is not private

JANUARY 21, 2015 · BY STAFF WRITER ·

Dear Editor,

I was really amused reading an article in the Guyana Chronicle of January 14, „APNU Councillor

says farmers should take millers to court to get their payments -AFC says farmers are afraid to

do so, calls for delinquent miller‟s licence to be revoked.‟ This I assumed happened in a meeting

at the RDC Boardroom of Region Two over millers still owing farmers their paddy money,

although there was a bail-out lately by government.

The argument by the two opposition councillors was valid in my opinion, according to the Rice

Factories Act 2002. What makes me laugh is when the Regional Chairman was reported as

saying that the agreement between the rice farmer and a miller is a private one. I wish to make it

clear that the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) is empowered to enforce the Rice

Factories Act when breached by the millers, and there is no private arrangement when it comes

to the farmers‟ livelihoods.

The board is even empowered in the prosecution of offences and recovery of penalties. It has the

power to enter and inspect a factory and examine books, revoke licences and most of all witness

the record for the sale of paddy by the producer (farmer) to the manufacturer (miller). Under the

sixth schedule of the act the miller is bound to sign for the total sum of money, quantity of paddy

received, price per bag with the day and year he did the transaction with the farmer, along with

two witnesses, one being the GRDB representative at the mill and the RPA representative

present.

The Rice Factories Act was passed in an effort to protect the rice farmers and to improve their

quality of life, thereby promoting standardization by millers. During my tenure there were

induction seminars held by the GRDB at the Burma Research Station. The aim was to sensitize

field officers and grading officers about the operations, administration and integration of quality

control, marketing/export, research and development, payments to farmers by millers according

to the act and extension services. These seminars were conducted by Brian Greenidge, and were

fruitful because they provided officers with insightful information about the organization and the

rice industry.

Yours faithfully,

Mohamed Khan http://www.stabroeknews.com/2015/opinion/letters/01/21/agreement-rice-farmers-millers-not-private/

Rice exports may hit 900,000 T in Q1 - Vietnam Economic Times

21.01.2015

Vietnam is projected to export 900,000 tonnes of rice in the first quarter of 2015, of which

500,000 tonnes have already been contracted, the Vietnam Economic Times newspaper reported,

citing the Vietnam Food Association.Importers could sign more deals when Vietnam begins

harvesting the winter-spring crop while export prices may not be as high as in 2014, the report

quoted the association's chairman as saying. The association has projected Vietnam's rice exports

for this year at more than 7 million tonnes. Last year, 6.32 million tonnes were exported via

official trade and another 2 million tonnes via unofficial trade to China.

http://www.blackseagrain.net/novosti/rice-exports-may-hit-900-000-t-in-q1-vietnam-economic-times

Vietnam to export 900,000 tons of rice in Q1: association

HO CHI MINH CITY, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam planned to export 900,000 tons of rice in the first

quarter of this year, the lowest level for the quarter compared with past several years, Vietnam Food

Association reported on its website Wednesday.Accordingly, local businesses have only signed contracts

to ship around 500,000 tons of rice and they must export an additional 400,000 tons to meet the set plan,

said VFA Chairman Nguyen Hung Linh, adding that currently the domestic price is competitive as it is

lower than, or as same as other rice exporters at 380 U.S. dollars per ton for 5-percent-broken rice.

VFA also forecast that rice supply and demand for 2015 will remain unchanged from 2014, but the local

market will continue to face challenges with sustainability and a lot need to be done to speed up the

industry. The association expected to export more than 7 million tons of rice this year.In 2014, Vietnam

exported 6.316 million tons of rice, worth 2. 789 billion U.S. dollars, a decrease of 5.47 percent in volume

and 3.59 percent in value.The association attributed the slump to the sharp decline in demand for rice in

the African markets, overproduction by Thailand and India along with lack of growth in Asian

markets.The country ranked third among the world's largest rice exporters in 2014 after Thailand (10.5

million tons) and India (10 million tons), according to VFA.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/xinhua-news-agency/150121/vietnam-export-900000-tons-

rice-q1-association

Are we missing lessons from the rice-pledging fiasco?

Attayuth Bootsripoom

attayuth@nationgroup.com

January 22, 2015 1:00 am

Tomorrow is "judgement day" for former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra's political future.

She is accused by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) of negligence of duty

leading to corruption, in connection with her government's rice-pledging scheme. That project is

part of her Pheu Thai Party's campaign promise in the run-up to the 2011 general election.After

Pheu Thai won a landslide victory, the Yingluck-led government went ahead with the rice-

pledging scheme, despite protests that it was fraught with flaws open to irregularities and losses.

Yingluck's administration ignored the critics, arguing that they had to continue with the project

because it was part of the ruling party's campaign promise to the voters. They explained the

project was aimed at providing state subsidies to farmers and therefore concerns of possible loss

should not be taken into account.As time went by, the "wound" stemming from the rice scheme

became "infected" and the "pain" could be felt. Many people pointed out that the project had

problems. Yingluck's government appeared to agree that was the case and started to make some

adjustments to the scheme.

However, before the rice scheme's "abscess" would explode, there came a political crisis and

chaos before the coup took place in May last year. The NACC went full steam in dealing with

the case. It requested that the Senate impeach Yingluck for negligence in connection with the

corruption-plagued and loss-making rice scheme.The unusual speed of the case led to a question

as to whether the case was politically motivated. There are many other cases in the NACC's care

that have failed to progress so rapidly.

The NACC came up with the accusation that Yingluck was negligent about irregularities

involving the rice scheme even before the anti-graft agency indicted anyone of corruption. This

fact led to an assertion that "when nobody has been found to be corrupt, how can Yingluck be

accused of being negligent?"

When Yingluck's case was referred to the post-coup National Legislative Assembly for an

impeachment process, there came a question as to whether the NLA actually had the authority to

impeach her. Some people asked if there existed a law for impeachment of public office holders,

as the constitution of 2007, which cited this matter, had already been scrapped after the

coup.However, this argument was countered by the fact that the anti-corruption law, which

empowered the NACC to seek impeachment of public-office holders, still existed after the coup.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has also supported the view that the NACC had the power to

seek impeachment.

During the NLA's inquiry session involving the impeachment process against Yingluck, she

opted not to show up. And the NLA resolved not to allow her representatives to answer the

questions from the assembly's members on her behalf, although the meeting regulations did not

forbid that. Finally, the session became a one-sided attack against the ex-PM.Although Yingluck

may finally be impeached by the NLA, this society will end up having learned nothing from the

rice scheme scandal. It is because the justice process has been rushed and has become

incomplete.

Some politicians will not miss the chance to point out to their supporters that a decision to

impeach Yingluck is politically motivated. However, under its political shroud, the rice scheme

really was flawed with loss and damage.Because the rice scheme's "abscess" was not allowed to

burst naturally, Thai society has missed the chance to learn some lessons about the bane of

expensive populist policies.

If society and voters were allowed to learn the lesson by themselves, we might in the future come

up with some kind of penalty for political parties that cause severe damage to the country in

exchange for popular support. Such a penalty also would teach politicians that they should avoid

expensive populist policies like this in the future. Source www.nationmultimedia.com