Taiwan – Rice genomics center opens in Taichung
Source: Focus Taiwan28/05/2013 – An international rice genomics center established by National Chung Hsing University and Academia Sinica was inaugurated Tuesday in Taichung, central Taiwan.
Thailand – Bleak future seen for Thai rice exporters
Source: Asia One28/05/2013 – With rice-importing nations becoming more reliant on their own production, and Thai prices remaining high, the Kingdom’s exporters will find it more difficult to win orders in an increasingly competitive global market. ASEAN rivals, in particular, are battling hard to increase market share, rice experts have warned.
Philippines – Rice purchases seen rising
Source: BusinessWorld17/11/2011 – Rice imports for next year could be higher than initially forecast, a Cabinet official yesterday said, following crop damage caused by a string of typhoons in the second half.
Japan – High radiation levels discovered in Fukushima’s rice supply
Source: Gizmodo17/11/2011 – For the first time since the tsunami-induced meltdown at a Fukushima power plant, Japanese health officials have discovered excessive concentrations of radioactive cesium in rice harvested from the region.
USA – Rice genes speed development of biofuel crops
Source: The Bioenergy Site16/11/2011 – The first genome-scale model for predicting the functions of genes and gene networks in a grass species has been developed by an international team of researchers that includes a UC Davis rice geneticist.
Japan – Stevia helps rice grow in tsunami ravaged rice paddies in Japan
Source: Inhabitat15/11/2011 – The earthquake and tsunami in Japan earlier this year caused serious damage to farmland, destroying a number of rice paddies, amongst other things, by inundating them with seawater. However, a recent cultivation trial done by B&L Corporation in Ishinomaki in Miyagi has succeeded in producing 5,400 kg of rice per hectare in ruined paddy fields. Using an agricultural preparation called…
Thailand – Thailand to extend controversial rice intervention for 3rd yr
Source: Reuters27/05/2013 – Thailand has pledged to renew its controversial rice-buying scheme for a third year, defying opposition over a policy that has been blamed for straining government finances and slashing exports as the grain has piled up in warehouses.
India – Punjab rice mills in the red as milling season stretches
Source: Business Standard27/05/2013 – Rice mills in Punjab are losing money owing to lack of storage space for custom-milled rice (CMR). CMR is paddy procured by government agencies and given to the mills for processing. The rice is distributed via the public distribution system.
USA – Saving rice fields heart of accord
Source: The Post and Courier14/11/2011 – As day broke in the ACE Basin, flocks of tundra swans began to fly from a pond. They rose into a sky where hundreds on hundreds of birds already flew — egrets and blue herons, white ibis and wood storks. In a nearby tree a bald eagle pair watched. Not…
Rice yield may see another boom: FAO
Source: The Daily Star14/11/2011 – Bangladesh is likely to bag a record rice crop for the second consecutive year, said Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in a forecast released early this month.