26th May,2015 Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine

8/9/2019 26th May,2015 Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine

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Daily Global Rice e-Newsletter

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May 26,2015Vol 5,Issue V

Indian Scientists Develop Zinc -Enriched Rice to FightMalnutrition PTI, Modified: May 25, 2015 17:30 IST

Researchers from Indira Gandhi Agriculture University (IGAU), Raipur have developed zinc-enriched rice that s expected to play a crucial role in fighting malnutrition in tribal-dominatedChhattisgarh where nearly seven lakh children are still malnourished. The new paddy seed,called 'Chhattisgarh Zinc Rice-1' is the first zinc bio-fortified rice variety in India.

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It was launched by the State Variety Release Committee in March and its production is likely to begin from the next kharif season. "We focused on increasing our crop production since the

inception of the Green Revolution with the aim to eliminate hunger. In the process, we managedto yield high production, but the quality of crop did not improve," said professor Chandel fromthe Indira Gandhi Agriculture University.

In a survey done in the year 2000, the Centre, along with health organizations foun d that 60-70 per cent of population was suffering from malnutrition because of deficiency of micro-nutrients, particularly iron, zinc and Vitamin A. Following this, the government decided to come out with aresearch programme to improve the variety of three staple crops - rice, wheat and maize - indifferent states. Under the programme, Chhattisgarh, considered as the rice bowl of the country,decided to work on the quality aspect and took up 'Rice Bio Fortification Research Project'.In thefirst phase of the project in 2003-2005, about 200 rice germplasm lines with high grain nutritivevalues but low-yielding quality were identified, he said. Subsequently, in the next phase of 2006-2011, seeds were multiplied and subjected to genetic improvement exercise, which led to seven

high-yielding zinc-enriched rice varieties. In 2013, the Centre decided to conduct a separateexercise coordinated by Directorate of Rice Research (DRR), Hyderabad, to analyze the outcomeof the researches being conducted in different parts of the country.


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Golden Rice in India: Is it necessary? What are impedimentsto adoption? Ryan Lenz | May 25, 2015 | Genetic Literacy Project

There is a saying in Chinese used to wish otherswell that means, “may you never live ininteresting times.” In a complex world full ofconflict, disease, and death, the idea of living ina simpler world without the plagues of the

present must seem comforting to most. Sadly,this is not the world we live in, no matter howmuch one may wish it into reality. For thoseliving in rural India, life can be a constantstruggle.According to data collected at theInstitute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, the

leading cause of life-altering disability in Indiaare health risks linked to poor diets. Nutritional

deficiencies are especially common in Indian children. This is both unacceptable and preventable. For much of the population in India, rice is the primary dietary staple as it is cheapand marginal ly nutritious. It is, however, without a sufficient level of β -carotene, a precursor tovitamin A. Without a lack of variety in many Indian diets, deficiencies often occur. Largeconsumptions of rice without supplemental nutritional diversity can ostensibly lead to vitamin Adeficiency.

Vitamin A deficiency, or VAD, can cause respiratory, GI, and urinary infections, as well as blindness and a significantly impaired immune system that can lead to a number of othercorresponding ailments. Symptoms of vitamin A deficiency are most severe in children. Recentstudies, such as those published by WHO, have pinpointed a number of causes for VAD rangingfrom substandard education, poor sanitary practices, the absence of strict laws pertaining to food

production, and a lack of effective monitoring and surveillance systems. In many instances, people continue to suffer due to the structural instability of the governments in developingnations, as India. However, the root of this issue still remains with the lack of dietary variety.

Continual developments in plant genetics have yielded a strong candidate for a solution to theseincessant, yet preventable woes. Golden rice is a type of transgenic Asian rice created forhumanitarian purposes. Its creation has received praise by a preponderance of the scientific

community, as this species of rice contains sufficient levels of β -carotene within its edible portion. Dispersing golden rice seeds to Indian farmers has the potential to curb the increasingrate of VAD within a generation. Rice consumed in India would no longer be susceptible to thesame failure as Vitamin A supplements, which did not succeed for a number of reasons including

poor government oversight and the increasingly likely connections between vitamin Asupplementation and certain cancers.

http://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/author/ryan-lenz/http://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/source/genetic-literacy-project/http://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/source/genetic-literacy-project/http://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/source/genetic-literacy-project/http://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/author/ryan-lenz/


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If golden rice, or vitamin-A fortified rice, were grown throughout India, there would be no needto implement or administer an additional program as agricultural systems are already firmly in

place. Lifelong disability caused by the inability to diversify diets would begin to make progressin the other direction, as vitamin A intake in this manner would not lead to the same potentiallydetrimental conclusions as direct vitamin A supplementation.

India is home to over 1 billion people, second only in population to China with a dizzyingnumber of ethnic groups, each with their own traditions, languages, and dialects. The primarylanguages spoken are Hindi and English and the vast majority of Indians tend to practice Hinduor Buddhism, although there are a plethora of variants practiced. With more than 50 cities with

populations over a million, India is urbanizing and fast. However, the vast majority of citizensare still located in rural areas, with little to no government assistance. Within its borders, Indiacontains the largest number of rural poor and those without homes in rural areas in the world.

The rural poor in India are, in some ways, dually marginalized by not only their low financialstatus, but additionally by their low social rung in the caste system that, though not officially,still dictates social life in India. Though there are certainly many impoverished citizens in urbanareas, the rural poor are often too far spread out for adequate government assistance andobservation. The continued existence of the caste system only seems to solidify their station.

According to information gathered by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, India sleading causes of death in recent years have been respiratory infections and diarrheal diseases.The continued struggle against the rise of diarrheal diseases throughout India, chiefly withinurban slums and rural villages, an increasing resistance to antibiotics has been noted. Similarly,acute respiratory infections, or ARIs, are running rampant throughout the Indian landscape withits effects most lethal in children under the age of 5. The Indian government, at its current state,

has a very limited ability to affect change through policy implementation, as these issues wouldrequire increasingly complex methods of observation, reporting, and analyzing. Not only doesIndia lack the public funding for massive vaccination and antibiotic programs, but growingeconomic losses may occur due to the increased strain on its health care system due to frequenthospitalizations.

India spends approximately 1.5% of its GDP on public health, which is well below the globalaverage of 5% spending. This is an issue often addressed by critics and India is in the process ofdrafting a new national health policy expected to be released later in 2015, aiming to moreadequately address the poor health of a rapidly industrializing nation. Lately, India has taken the

path of a number of 5-year plans that seem to be slowly handing the responsibility of publichealth care over to private companies. This could be a troubling transformation as those sufferingmost are nearly penniless, which could only make worse the health woes of the nation. Over 40%of India s children are underweight due to malnutrition making health reform completelynecessary. Food struggle is not news for India, who has dealt with a number of deadly faminesthroughout the decades.


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The last major famine in India occurred in 1943 and is known as the Bengal Famine. During thisdisastrous period, over one and a half million Indians lost their lives. As India was under Britishrule at this period, many blame their careless handling of public health systems with a preferenceinstead on civil defense. In her report at the tail end of the famine, Sydney Bailey remarks that“food shortage is not unknown in India” but the total mismanagement of the food supply and the

subsequent relief efforts by the British were completely bungled. Though the fault was notentirely on the British. Grain producers, during this year, knew that another food shortage waslikely and opted to raise the prices of their product with a flagrant disregard of the nationallyregulated limits of maximum prices and chose to profit while many, many others starved. Oncerations and other forms of relief began to surface across India, still efforts were hampered by

poor transportation methods and lackluster infrastructure.

Perhaps there is less being done about the rampant malnutrition because it is not necessarily aseasy to see when walking by. During a famine, one would expect to see bodies in the streets,

piling up every hour with a building hysteria. In the case of malnutrition, it is far less obvious but just as deadly. Malnutrition can kill, and certainly does, but it takes t ime. India s malnutritionrate is not only higher than its nearby competitor China, but also underperforms compared tosub-Saharan African nations whose governments have far less ability to assist

As has been previously discussed, vitamin A deficiency most often affects the poorer populationsaround the world, and India is no different. In fact, India has the highest prevalence of VAD inall of South East Asia, the region where this problem is the most pressing. One third of the globalmortality rate is owed to malnutrition such as VAD throughout India and its neighboringBangladesh. The best sources of vitamin A exist in foods like dairy, eggs, and animal tissues.Food like this is often the most expensive and therefore the hardest to obtain among the poorest

populations in developing countries and thus deficiencies are created.

The necessity of normalized vitamin A levels allows for the bodily maintenance of healthyvision, tissue regeneration, and infection resistance. Malnutrition caused by VAD is long lastingand exponentially lethal and this can create economic distress both from the public healthstandpoint and by simply decreasing the number of healthy workers. Prolonged VAD leads to anumber of physiological issues including the breakdown of “tissue d evelopment, metabolism,and resistance to infections,” as is noted in Akhtar et al. s recent study on the matter.

The most common symptom of VAD is night blindness, or xerophthalmia. Children andexpecting mothers, in rural areas especially, are increasingly affected with xerophthalmia.Among rural expecting women in India, some 13.7% suffer from this symptom caused by VAD.Accordingly, lower levels of vitamin A will also be present in the breast milk of these expectingmothers allowing the cycle continued by passing it down to their offspring. Among childrenafflicted with xerophthalmia across the globe, 85% of them reside in India. In recent years, theIndian government has offered vitamin A supplementation to mostly urban centers but, ofcourse, the reach to rural areas was minimal at best. Vitamin A intake through supplementationhas also gained a growing number of critics.


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Studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine , the Cochrane Database andthe Annals of Internal Medicine have all found th at the supplementation of vitamin A and β -carotene could lead to a significant increase in the risk of lung cancer, intestinal cancer and heartfailure. It should be pointed out, however, that the volunteers in these studies were notmalnourished or significantly deficient in vitamin A, but the shadow of doubt remains.

Is Golden Rice viable? The most effective solution with the lowest probability of failure is the implementation ofGolden Rice into the rice fields of rural India. This rice, enhanced with carotenoids, will vastlyimprove those suffering from VAD throughout India. As rice is the staple food that provides themajority of calories to these people, it is the best solution to curb the problem. Golden Rice isalso equipped with additional amounts of iron and zinc to further battle hunger in the developingworld. Indica rice cultivars, specifically IR64 and BR29, were used as a base in completingmodification of this enhanced rice, as it is the most common form grown and consumed globally,India included.

Currently, the technology to create this type of enhanced rice through conventional plant breeding does not exist as the desired genes for this scenario are not to be found in the knownrice gene pool. With this in mind, Golden Rice, created with a transgenic approach, is the mostideal. In this method, genes are incorporated into the rice originating from other sources, whichis then expressed in new rice seeds. The expression of β -carotene in a number of different ricecultivars had varying results, with some expressing more than others. For example, IR64 wasfound to have less β -carotene expression than that of BR29. Differences in expression can haveany number of explanations including the unique backgrounds of the selected plant varieties, orsim ply because of the specific section of an event of the rice s transgenic lines. In terms of plantgenetics, the desired additional trait is entirely dependent on the phenotype. Most phenotypessuch as height or yield are quantitative traits. This means that hundreds, perhaps even thousands

of genes, to a very small effect, control these phenotypes.

By contrast, simple traits, or pathways, are controlled by a relatively small number of genes to alarge effect. This means that, thankfully, it s essentially im possible to find a transgene that wouldsignificantly affect crop yield, which is good news when considering Golden Riceimplementation in the developing world. The carotenoid pathway is quite simple, which furtherspeaks to the ease with which Golden Rice can be created. In most instances, it would be ideal touse standard plant breeding methods, but in the case of desired phenotypes with simple pathwayslike that of carotenoids, the transgenic method of Golden Rice is far more logical.

Golden Rice is currently in the process of being field evaluated in both Louisiana, in the UnitedStates, as well as further tests in the Philippines, Bangladesh, and Indonesia. According to resultscollected by the International Rice Research Institute, data in the Philippines has, at this point,

been the most extensive, however data is often skewed due to vandalism by rebel groups withfrequent unrest occurring in the countryside. With the first round of field tests being completedin the Philippines from 2012-2013, the results were hopeful, but there was still work to be done.The desired level of β -carotene was attained during this run, though the crop yields were lower


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than expected as they did not perform as well as rice grown by other nearby farmers, thoughsome of the blame falls on the vandalism caused by militants.

As of 2014, data suggests that specific cultivars have been selected for further field tests due tosuperior performance in past testing. The cultivars, GR-R and GR-E, are now in the stages of

being rigorously tested for their abilities to resist pests and yield in numbers comparable orsuperior to rice species grown currently in developing nations.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has had a vested interest in GM crops for some timenow. As of late, the ir focus has been in the cultivation of “climate -ready maize” for use in sub -Saharan Africa. “Climate -ready” refers to the drought -resistance qualities of the maize beingstudied and perfected by researchers for climates with very little annual rainfall. After rigoroustesting, with $33 million in funding assistance by the Gates Foundation, over 30 varieties of theclimate-ready maize has been distributed to millions of smallholder farmers in sub-SaharanAfrica.

Similar to that of rice in Southeast Asia, maize is a staple food in sub-Saharan Africa as a meansfor dietary and financial subsistence. After a number of droughts led to further starvation and

poverty in the region, the Gates Foundation saw an opportunity to help. Developed by theInternational Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, this drought-tolerant corn also foundsuccess through higher yields, which is a hugely beneficial factor for subsistence agriculture.According to papers published by the Gates Foundation, these new corn varieties are “expe ctedto boost maize yields by as much as 30% for up to 40 million African farmers…by 2016”. Theseare astounding numbers in such a short span of time. GM crops used for humanitarian purposeshave the potential to rapidly and effectively reduce hunger within the 21 st century.Vandana Shiva leads anti-Golden rice “progressive” coalition

However, the pathway to mass seed distribution is not as simple. It is no secret that the use ofgenetically modified organisms is an extremely contentious issue globally. There is a widely held perception that the risk of GMOs outweighs the benefits, which is especially present in massmedia. This stigma is growing in the West and has allowed for the rise of anti-GMO speakers. Aspeaker and activist from India famous for her work against GMOs, is Vandana Shiva. Ms. Shivahas time and again expressed her disdain for Golden Rice, asserting that a focus on only one typeof food is a fool s errand. Her proposed solution, however, is inherently unworkable. Ms. Shivahas presented her idea to simply diversify the diets of those in the developing world, which ofcourse would be ideal but people of the poorest strata in the developing world can most certainlynot afford the fruits, vegetables, meat, and dairy required on a daily basis.

Ms. Shiva s rhetoric is not only deceptive, but her self -described biography is dually murky. Invarious speeches she has represented herself, at times, as a scientist, nuclear physicist, or aquantum physicist, when in fact she holds a PhD in philosophy. None of these qualificationshave the slightest ounce to do with plant genetics. Her current buzzwords are “seed freedom” and“food democracy”, clearly playing on people s ideals for liberty. The obvious implication is thatthose who do not support her vie ws do not support “freedom” or “democracy”.


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Ms. Shiva has created an organization called Navdanya apparently dedicated to promote“nonviolent farming”, referencing the 1984 violence in Punjab. The events in Punjab werecomplex and not necessarily to do with agricultural practices. Much of the violence took place

between the police and armed militants. These militants formed in the rural region of Punjab fora number of reasons, one of them being the economic effects of the Green Revolution in the

1960s and 1970s, among others. The Green Revolution was a response to continual foodshortages and famines in India, responding with technological advancements in agriculturalinfrastructure as well as the development and implementation of high-yield crops, whicheffectively staved off further food shortages and transformed India into a food-surplus nation fora time. A downside to this so-called revolution was increased unemployment due to themechanization of agricultural practices. Ostensibly, those out of work should have been able tofind work elsewhere, as India was quickly industrializing, though it was more difficult forresidents of Punjab to accomplish this due to worry from the Indian government of the dangersof setting up any important industrial sites in a state bordering Pakistan, the two of whom havehistorically shared a contentious relationship.

Ms. Shiva s reference to the events of Punjab may share some roots in the agricultural revolutionof the 20 th century, but her fear of GMOs in India is without merit. Her organization, Navdanya,also touts its accomplishment of setting up organic farms spread over lands in India in an attemptto “fight globalization.” The hypocrisy of creating a global organization to fight other globalorganizations is astounding. In a joint study carried out by researchers at McGill University andthe University of Minnesota, organic crops yield 25% less than conventional crops. In a nationwith significant suffering due to food shortages and malnutrition, organic farming is certainly notthe answer. With this in mind, it is pertinent for governments across the globe to become moreaccepting of genetically modified crops in order to assist humanitarian causes that are sodesperately needed.

Ms. Shiva s views mirror those of man y others in the Western world and this perception matterswhen it comes down to the deliberation of government policy of GM crops. Genetically modifiedcrops are regulated on a nation-to-nation basis. In India, GM crops are very stringently assessedon a case-to-case basis. In the case of Golden Rice, there is some concern that a low-level

presence of its traits could present themselves in rice grown and shipped to nations that receivetheir rice through imports, as it is not grown natively. Places like Western Europe, for example,import their rice. The understandable concern is that, as Europeans are not vitamin A deficient, ifthey were to accidentally consume rice with low-level similarities to Golden Rice, it could bedetrimental to their health. For this reason, certain precautions must be agreed upon and enforcedin order to prevent this.

Luckily for India, most of the rice that it grows is consumed within a close proximity, largelyalleviating this global concern. Current regulations that must be followed by signatories of theCartagena Protocol, with regard to GM crops, lead to increased costs and delays. For example,under the protocol, GM crops must first be grown in glass houses, then screen houses, thenfinally open fields for further study before being allowed to grow openly in these nations. This


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may sound like a good idea, but keep in mind the years of field studies already taking placeacross the world. These additional tests are redundant and unnecessary, especially whenmalnutrition continues to kill more Indian women and children every year. As of 23 January2001, India has been a participating party in the Cartagena Protocol. This unnecessary red tapewill only waste time for an issue so desperately in need of a solution.

Many dissenters of GM crops highlight the “corporate -ness” of the business. It is true that thedevelopers of Golden Rice, Ingo Potrykus and Peter Beyer, licensed the technology they createdto Syngenta for its use commercially. To some, this may seem inherently distressing as it could

potentially lead to unfair treatment to struggling farmers in developing areas for the profit of thecompany. Fortunately, for Golden Rice, this is absolutely not the case. The professors licensedtheir technology with the understanding that their seed traits would be distributed to small andlocal farmers in developing nations for no cost at all. No person or company will benefitfinancially from the adoption of Golden Rice to those nations who need it most.

The funding required for this project will not be for the physical adoption of Golden Rice inIndia, but for the education of those in power. It is necessary that they see that the benefits doindeed outweigh any risks. Though Golden Rice does not require funding for its globaldistribution, it could certainly benefit from an education campaign to better inform the public ofits safety and benefits.

Responding with science The global resistance against GMO use is immense. Consequently, there is a dire need for globaleducation on the topic as much of the dissent is based on fear mongering or misunderstandings ofthe issue. There are certainly a small, but growing, number of advocacy groups aiming to createa better-informed public yet their effect is nominal. People in various fields like Pamela Ronald

and Kevin Folta; professors of plant genetics at UC Davis and UF-Gainesville, Kavin Senapathy,a freelance writer, and Mark Lynas, an environmental activist are all outspoken advocates forGMOs who are dedicated to making a meaningful difference in public opinion.

There are also a small number of organizations such as the Genetic Literacy Project, Biofortified,and AgBioWorld as well as Facebook groups like GMOLOL, SciBabes, and We Love GMOsand Vaccines. They are all working hard to reaching a common goal but more must be done inorder to sway both the public and their governments. Though the issue certainly extends faroutside of India s borders, it is prudent to stay fast to the goal of implementing Golden Rice intoits impoverished communities. Therefore this is where the need for funding resides. With a seriesof educational conferences and subsequent campaigns, the probability of Golden Rice seeddistribution increase will largely increase.

The first step is to hold a seminar with a panel of plant geneticists and other GM advocates to anaudience of invited government officials. The format will be brief presentations by panelmembers followed by an open conversation between officials and the panel. Members of theCouncil of the State, the House of the people, as well as India s executive branch will be


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welcomed to this event with any additional seating open to the public depending on venueselection. This will serve as a way to both educate and to quell concerns in an open andrespectful forum between the Indian government and those most knowledgeable in the science

behind genetically modified crops.

A contingency plan will also be put into play depending on the outcome of the seminar. If theoutcome is positive, it would be prudent for the Gates Foundation to partner with the Indiangovernment to implement a large- scale GM education program, much like South Africa s

partnership with loveLife for youth HIV prevention. Similarly, the Indian government wouldideally agree to share the budgetary cost with the Gates Foundation with a growing contributionwith a reevaluation of the program s effectiveness every 3 years. If the outcome is not positive,then it would be beneficial to host the seminar annually as well as implement street teams inurban areas with higher voter turnout in order to hand out pamphlets and speak to people in thestreets in an attempt to sway public opinion.

Golden Rice, with the implementation of the government education seminar and the following public awareness campaign, will become available in the near future after years of rigoroustesting. It is in the interest of every malnourished man, woman, and child in the rural states ofIndia to adopt this trait characteristic and introduce this into their dietary practices. For themothers losing their sight, for the children losing their lives, this could save their world.

Ryan Lenz is a student at the University of Wisconsin pursuing a degree in InternationalStudies. This analysis was originally prepared for a Global Health seminar course. Bibliography Akhtar, Saeed. Anwaar, Ahmed. Randhawa, Muhammad Atif. Sunethra, Atukorala. Ismail,Tariq. Zulfigar, Ali. “Prevalance of Vitamin A Deficiency in South Asia: Causes, Outcomes and

Possible Remedies.” Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition 31, no. 4 (December, 2013):413-423, PubMed, (accessed 12 March 2015).Arnquist, Sarah and Weintraub, Rebbeca. “loveLife: Preventing HIV Among South AfricanYouth.” Cases in Global Health Delivery , (April, 2011): (accessed 14 May 2015).Bailey, Sy dney D. “Post -Mortem on the Bengal Famine.” Far Eastern Survey 14, no. 25(December, 1945): 373-374, JSTOR (accessed 15 April 2015).Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. “Profiles of Progress: Drought -Tolerant Maize.” Global

Development Program. (October, 2010): (accessed 14 May 2015).Bill and Melinda Gates Foundtaion. “Climate -ready Maize Gets a Boost: Phase III of theDrought Tolerant Maize in Africa Project to Reach More Farmers.” Press Room . (February,2012): (accessed 14 May 2015).Choudary, Bhagirath. Gheysen, Godelieve. Buysse, Jeroen. Van der Meer, Piet. Burssens,Sylvia. “Regulatory options for genetically modified crops in India.” Plant Biotechnology

Journal 12 (2014): 135-146, PubMed (accessed 15 April 2015).Datta, Swapan K. et al. “Golden rice: introgression, breeding, and field evaluation.” Euphytica ,(March, 2007): 271-278, EBSCOhost, (accessed 16 April 2015).


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Dubock, Adrian. “The politics of Golden Rice.” GM Crops and Food 5, no. 3 (July, 2014): 210-222, PubMed (accessed 11 March 2015).Genetic L iteracy Project. “About Us: Mission.” (accessed 14 May 2015).

Institute for Health Metrics and Evalution. “Global Burden of Disease Profile: India.” (accessed

27 April 2015).

International Rice Research Institute. “What is the status of the Golden Rice pro ject coordinated by IRRI?” (accessed 17 April 2015).

International Rice Research Institute. “Two Seasons of Golden Rice trials in the Philippinesconcluded.” (accessed 17 April 2015).

Latifah, Amin. Azlan, Noor Ayuni Ahmad. Ahmad, Jamil. Ibrahim, Rozita. “ Public Perceptionof the Ethical Aspects of Golden Rice in Malaysia.” International Journal of Science in Society 2,no. 3: 15-34, EBSCOhost, (accessed 16 April 2015).

Mahapatra, Tanmay et al. “Predictors of Rational Management of Diarrhea in an EndemicSet ting: Observation from India.” PLoS ONE 10, no. 4 (2015), (accessed 17 April 2015).

Moghissi, AA. Pei, S. Liu, Y. “Golden rice: scientific, regulatory, and public information processes of a genetically modified organism.” Critical Review of Biotechnology (Jan, 2015): 1-7, PubMed, (accessed 11 March 2015).Peasah, Samuel K et al. “The cost of acute respiratory infections in Northern India: a multi -sitestudy.” BMC Public Health 15, (2015): 330, PubMed (accessed 15 April 2015).Rah, JH. Houston, R. Mohapatra, BD. Kumar, SS. Saiyed, F. Bhattacharjee, S. “A review of thevitamin A supplementation in India: reasons for success in the states of Bihar and Odisha.” Foodand Nutrition Bulletin 35, no. 2, (June, 2014): 203-210, PubMed (accessed 11 March 2015).Seufert , Verena. Ramankutty, Navin. Foley, Jonathon A. “Comparing the yields of organic andconventional agriculture.” Nature 485, (May, 2012): 229-232, (accessed 15 April 2015).Shiva, Vandana. “About Us: Introduction to Navdanya.” Navdanya Organization. (access ed 15April 2015).

Stone, Glenn Davis. “Both Sides Now: Fallacies in the Genetic -Modification Wars, Implicationsfor Developing Countries, and Anthropological Perspectives.” Current Anthropology 43, no. 4(August/October, 2002): 611-630, JSTOR, (accessed 11 March 2015).World Health Organization. “Micronutrient Deficiencies: Vitamin A Deficiency.” (accessed 12March 2015).

http://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/2015/05/25/golden-rice-in-india-is-it-necessary-what-are-impediments-to-adoption/


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Asian nations advised to stock up on rice as demand rises PUBLISHED ON MAY 26, 2015 6:03 AM

BANGKOK - Asian countries need to build up rice stocks as global supply may shrink due togrowing demand from major buyers such as China and India, which will eventually push up

prices, according to global research house The Rice Trader."China is still not on the pace to meet(an annual purchase of) 4.5 million tonnes this year, but it will make it. The fact that it now hasonly 2.2 million tonnes suggests that it will buy aggressively," said Mr Jeremy Zwinger,

president and CEO of the California-based research institute.China, now the world's biggest rice buyer, imported four million tonnes of rice last year, up from 3.2 million tonnes in 2013,according to data from the United States Department of Agriculture.

The country's rice imports in 2014 set a new record for a fourth consecutive year. The dramaticincrease in rice demand from the world's most populous nation began in 2007, when importsincreased to more than seven times the average of the previous five years.The Rice Trader alsoexpects Indian rice stocks to jump to nearly 10 million tonnes this year. As of early this month,India's rice stocks had plunged by 22 per cent to 22.23 million tonnes from the previous year,according to statistics from the Food Corporation of India issued recently.Rice Trader data fromfive rice-exporting countries - Thailand, India, Vietnam, Pakistan and the United States - showsthat overseas shipments last year reached historically high levels at 34.67 million tonnes, up 12.4

per cent from 2013.

Mr Zwinger said that over the next several months, rice prices would stay at a low level onabundant supplies from rice-producing countries, particularly Thailand.Within such a buyer'smarket, he recommended Asian countries, including China, Indonesia and the Philippines, to buyoverseas, as the situation might change into a seller's market immediately, describing the currentsituation as a "transition" moment."The price now is very acceptable, especially with the risk thatthe oil price will go back (up), the risks of weather we keep seeing and the fact we had many

years of lower production," he said during the Thai Rice Convention recently.

The market is wary of the potential of a long drought caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon which might pose a significant threat to rice production.Australia's weather bureauhas already declared the major event of El Nino, which is caused by a reversal of trade winds inthe Pacific, causing ocean temperatures to rise.Scientists have warned that the world is on trackfor another year of record-setting heat, with temperatures having hit a new high in the first fourmonths of this year.

THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

http://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/south-east-asia/story/asian-nations-advised-stock-rice-demand-rises-20150526#sthash.xcoj24Lv.dpuf

http://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/south-east-asia/story/asian-nations-advised-stock-rice-demand-rises-20150526#sthash.xcoj24Lv.dpufhttp://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/south-east-asia/story/asian-nations-advised-stock-rice-demand-rises-20150526#sthash.xcoj24Lv.dpufhttp://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/south-east-asia/story/asian-nations-advised-stock-rice-demand-rises-20150526#sthash.xcoj24Lv.dpufhttp://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/south-east-asia/story/asian-nations-advised-stock-rice-demand-rises-20150526#sthash.xcoj24Lv.dpufhttp://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/south-east-asia/story/asian-nations-advised-stock-rice-demand-rises-20150526#sthash.xcoj24Lv.dpuf


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APEDA News (India)

International Benchmark Price

Price on: 22-05-2015

Product Benchmark Indicators Name Price

Garlic

1 Chinese first grade granules, CFR NW Europe (USD/t) 2100

2 Chinese Grade A dehydrated flakes, CFR NW Europe (USD/t) 2000

3 Chinese powdered, CFR NW Europe (USD/t) 1800

Ginger

1 Chinese sliced, CIF NW Europe (USD/t) 4600

2 Chinese whole, CIF NW Europe (USD/t) 5100

3 Indian Cochin, CIF NW Europe (USD/t) 3000

Guar Gum Powder

1 Indian 100 mesh 3500 cps, FOB Kandla (USD/t) 5740

2 Indian 200 mesh 3500 cps basis, FOB Kandla (USD/t) 3160

3 Indian 200 mesh 3500 cps basis, FOB Kandla (USD/t) 3160

Source:agra-net For more info

Market Watch

Commodity-wise, Market-wise Daily Price on 23-05-2015

Domestic Prices Unit Price : Rs per Qty

Product Market Center Variety Min Price Max Price

Jowar(Sorgham)

1 Amreli (Gujarat) Other 1055 2875


15/17


16/17



17

Product Market Center Origin Variety Low High

Onions Dry Package: 40 lb cartons

1 Atlanta Georgia Yellow 19 20

2 Chicago Mexico Yellow 23 26

3 Dallas Peru Yellow 25 25

Cucumbers Package: cartons film wrapped

1 Atlanta Canada Long Seedless 8.50 9.50

2 Dallas California Long Seedless 12.50 13

3 Detroit Canada Long Seedless 9 10

Apples Package: cartons tray pack

1 Atlanta Virginia Red Delicious 16 16

2 Chicago Washington Red Delicious 12 14

3 Detroit Washington Red Delicious 19 20.50

Source:USDA

Rice procured at negotiated prices from millers’ SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Telangana Civil Supplies Commissioner Rajat Kumar has maintained that the Civil SuppliesCorporation/Department has been procuring rice required for government schemes at negotiated

prices from millers, as has been the practice since 1983. In response to a n ews item “Free lunchfor millers” published in these columns on May 23, the Commissioner said „sanna biyyam (finerice) required for welfare hostels and mid-day meal scheme was also purchased from millers inthe same manner. It was ensured that only varieties grown in Telangana were delivered and nounintended benefit was given to them, Dr. Rajat Kumar added.Further, the Commissioner said

fine rice required for 2015-16 had already been procured

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/rice-procured-at-negotiated-prices-from-millers/article7246257.ece


17/17



18

Indonesian minister fears govt sabotage in contaminated ricescare Mon May 25, 2015 9:43am GMT

By Fergus Jensen

JAKARTA May 25 (Reuters) - Indonesia's home minister called for a police investigation intothe suspected contamination of rice with plastic, saying it may be an attempt at sabotaging thegovernment, media reported on Monday.President Joko Widodo has called for calm after reportsthat tainted rice may have caused the hospitalization of a girl in Medan on Sunday and madesome customers at a food market in Bekasi sick last week.Rice is a common food staple inIndonesia, the world's third biggest importer, and reports of contamination can quickly causefood scares in the vast archipelago."The synthetic rice distributor ... may be making an attempt attreason or trying to sabotage the government," Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo was quoted assaying by the English-daily Jakarta Post.The scare began last week when customers complainedof nausea and dizziness after eating suspect rice from a vendor in Bekasi, a town neighbouringthe capital of Jakarta.

Initial tests indicated the rice was contaminated with plastic and plastic softeners.Widodo,however, urged consumers to wait for official government test results before jumping toconclusions."Don't everyone just talk and make the problem bigger," Widodo told reporters onSunday as quoted by online news site Detik.com. "What is most important is to look at the root

problem and check if it really was in Bekasi or just one vendor."Police were waiting for theresults of official tests before continuing their investigation, Assistant Police CommissionerSiswo told Reuters.The Bekasi vendor, Dewi Septiani, told reporters that the rice she had sold in

porridge was "clearly very different and smelled different too. It's not like natural rice".(Additional reporting by Cindy Silviana; Editing by Randy Fabi)

http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL3N0YG24I20150525

Amira Nature Foods expands product distribution in US FBR Staff WriterP ublished 25 May 2015

Packaged Indian specialty rice supplier Amira Nature Foods has expanded product distribution in the US by adding a new retailer.Jewel-Osco, owned by New Albertsons, will sell five Amira brand SKUs at itsstores in Illinois, Indiana and Iowa, starting in August this year.Amira's products to be available in Jewel-Osco stores include Amira brand Natural Basmati Rice, Natural Brown Basmati Rice, Natural ThaiJasmine Rice, Natural Thai Jasmine Brown Rice and Smoked Basmati Rice.Amira Nature Foodschairman Karan A Chanana said: "Jewel-Osco is an established Midwest retailer with a strong market

presence in the third largest city in the United States."This is another huge win for the Amira brand, as wework diligently to expand our distribution to new retailers and enhance our visibility across the UnitedStates."Based in the UAE, Amira Nature Foods offers branded packaged Indian specialty rice and other

products in over 60 countries across the globe.The company primarily sells Basmati rice, which is a premium long-grain rice grown only in certain regions of the Indian sub-continent, under its flagshipAmira brand as well as under other third party brands.
http://www.food-business-review.com/archive/4294677517http://www.food-business-review.com/archive/4294677517

Documents

26th May,2015 Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine