Thailand – Rice pests multiply post-floods
Source: IRIN12/03/2012 – Heavy flooding across parts of Thailand in 2011 has fuelled outbreaks of a rice pest that can decimate harvests, experts say.
Indonesia – Growing organic rice a bucket at a time in East Jakarta
Source: Jakarta Globe11/03/2012 – There are bright forecasts for Indonesia’s economy this year, but the prospects for its rice fields appear far dimmer. As the economy booms along, more and more rice fields are converted to housing estates and industrial areas, which could spell trouble for a country that lives on the grain as one…
Philippines – More hybrid rice choices for farmers
Source: PhilStar.com11/03/2012 – Rice farmers now have an additional option of which hybrid varieties to plant with the recent approval of the hybrid line PhilSCAT 3-1 by the National Seed Industry Council (NSIC) selection board.
Thailand – Thai rice exports plummet 41.6% year-on-year
Source: The China Post06/03/2012 – The Thai Rice Exporters Association reported that as of Feb. 23, export volume for the month was 465,081 tons, down 41.6 percent from the same period last year. Exports at the end of the month are expected to reach 586,400 tons thanks to higher demand from Nigeria to make up for…
Thailand – Rice exports drop under new scheme
Source: Bangkok Post05/03/2012 – Rice exports have declined this year as a result of the rice mortgage scheme implemented by the Pheu Thai Party-led government, a seminar organised by the Democrat Party was told yesterday.
India – India emerges as a top rice exporter
Source: Voice of America29/02/2012 – Five months after lifting a ban on exports of cheaper varieties of rice, India has emerged as one of the world’s top rice exporters. That has helped stabilize prices around the world, even as the cost goes up in traditional exporting nations like Thailand.
Japan – Ministry OK’s rice planting in areas over cesium limit
Source: The Daily Yomiuri29/02/2012 – The agriculture ministry has announced it will conditionally permit rice planting this year in municipalities where radioactive cesium contained in last year’s harvests was found to be from 100 becquerels to 500 becquerels per kilogram.
Guyana – Golden Fleece rice farmers hard hit by floods
Source: Kaieteur News29/02/2012 – While many rice farmers from Golden Fleece, Essequibo Coast, are in the process of harvesting rice for the first crop, a number of them especially those residing on the northern section have been hard hit from floods.
Philippines – Rice terraces core, buffer zone map done
Source: Sun Star29/02/2012 – The National Mapping and Resource Information Agency (Namria) presented recently the map showing the delineation of the core and buffer zones of the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras Unesco World Heritage Site.
Malaysia – Father of hybrid rice honoured with Mahathir science award
Source: The Sun Daily28/02/2012 – The introduction of hybrid rice to the world in 1979 enabled China to feed 70 million more people annually and uplift the status of rice farmers by maximising output from paddy fields.