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1. 3.4tr rice investment under threat, say processors
February 1, 2021
in News, News Update
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Nduka Chiejina, Abuja
Rice processors have cried out that their N3.4 trillion investment for
processing the staple food is under threat from smugglers.
To save the investment, the processors urged the Federal Government to
criminalise the sale of foreign rice.
Director General of Rice Processors Association of Nigeria (RIPAN),
Mr. Andy Ekwelem, spoke at the weekend in Abuja.
Addressing reporters on the development, Ekwelem regretted that
smuggled foreign rice brands have flooded Nigerian markets again, thus
threatening the existence of local rice mills.

2. The RIPAN chief warned that most Nigerian rice mills were under threat
of shutting down with attendant job losses as investments in the sector
were threatened by the activities of smugglers.
Nigerian rice mills, he said, employed over 13 million workers in 3.2
million cottage mills that employed at least five workers each.
Ekwelem said: “At a time, the government tackled the menace of rice
smuggling. But immediately after the activities of #EndSARS movement
and reopening of borders by the Federal Government, the markets have
been flooded with foreign rice.
Read Also: Group trains women in rice processing
“We have said it many times on the need for government to criminalise
sale of foreign rice in the markets and supermarkets. Rice is number one
on the list of prohibited products in which the Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN) placed forex restriction on.
“It is assumed that any rice you see in this country now, in the markets,
shops and even in your homes that is not Nigeria-made rice is smuggled
into the country.
“The country is losing revenue because these smugglers are not paying
the right duties to bring the rice into the country and this ugly
development is killing our economy.”
He recalled that since the CBN intervention in local rice production,
investments by integrated rice processors, down to cottage rice millers
scattered all over the country, were over N3.4 trillion.
https://thenationonlineng.net/3-4tr-rice-investment-under-threat-say-
processors/
Koreans' consumption of rice hits all-time low in 2020
Posted : 2021-01-28 12:46
Updated : 2021-01-28 12:46
2

3. Gettyimagesbank
South Koreans' consumption of rice hit a record low in 2020, data
showed Thursday, due mainly to changes in diet and eating habits.
An average South Korean consumed 57.7 kilograms of rice in 2020,
down 2.5 percent or 1.5 kilograms from the previous year, according to
the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
Rice is a key staple food for Koreans, but its consumption has been on a
steady decline since 1980, when per capita average annual rice
consumption was 132.4 kg.
The consumption fell below the 60-kilogram threshold for the first time

4. in 2019.
The combined amount of rice used by food producers dropped 12.6
percent over the period to reach 650,000 tons as demand for rice-based
alcoholic beverages or snacks declined.
Meanwhile, South Korea said it plans to gradually release 370,000 tons
of reserved rice into the market this year to cope with a supply shortage
currently estimated at 160,000 tons due to weather conditions. (Yonhap)
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/culture/2021/01/135_303219.html#:
~:text=South%20Koreans'%20consumption%20of%20rice,Agriculture
%2C%20Food%20and%20Rural%20Affairs.
Cut on rice tariff ‘ill-timed’ — farmers
Published February 1, 2021, 5:30 AM
by Madelaine B. Miraflor
The recent recommendation of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to
temporarily reduce tariffs on rice imports was described as
“unwarranted and ill-timed” by a group of farmers.
Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) National Manager Raul
Montemayor is questioning the basis for the DA’s petition, given that
DA Secretary William Dar had repeatedly said the country will have
enough local rice production following a record harvest in 2020
despite the series of typhoons and calamities.

5. (MB file, Keith Bacongco)
“This sudden proposal of the DA is totally unjustified. It is a stab in
the back of our rice farmers, who are still reeling from the drastic fall
in farmgate prices caused by excessive imports in the last two years
following the enactment of the Rice Tariffication Law. Why
encourage more and cheaper imports now when local supply is more

6. than enough, and prices are very stable?” Montemayor further said.
The farmers noted that the DA even suspended the issuance of import
clearances late last year to ease the glut in supplies after a surge in
imports in the middle of the year.
To recall, last January 28, the DA asked the Tariff Commission to
reduce tariffs on rice imported from non-ASEAN countries to only 35
percent from the current 50 percent.
The Tariff Commission will conduct a hearing on February 4 to
discuss the proposal.
Meanwhile, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) show
that average retail prices for both well-milled rice (WMR) and
regular-milled rice (RMR) in 2020 were 2.5 percent lower than 2019
levels.
From July 2020, prices had shown a continuous downtrend and
reached their lowest level of P40.75 per kilo for WMR and P36.09 per
kilo for RMR in December 2020.
The local price declines occurred despite the increase in international
prices of rice, particularly those coming from Vietnam and Thailand,
Montemayor noted.
Montemayor said that imports from countries like India and Pakistan
are still cheaper than comparable products from ASEAN countries
like Vietnam and Thailand even if they are assessed a higher 50
percent tariff.
He added that there is no guarantee that the reduced import costs for
rice from non-ASEAN countries due to lower tariffs will translate
into lower retail prices for consumers.

7. “The DA proposal will only make the importers richer. Those who
will now import from India and Pakistan to avail of the lower prices
and tariff are also the ones who used to import from Thailand and
Vietnam. They will sell the rice at the highest possible price and will
not pass on most of the savings to consumers,” said Montemayor.
He noted that the DA proposal to reduce rice tariffs was made with
“zero” consultation with farmers and appears to have been
surreptitiously inserted into the petition to reduce tariffs for pork
products.
Aside from rice, the DA also recommended a reduction in the tariff
for pork imports under the minimum access volume (MAV), from 30
percent to 5 to 10 percent tariff.
For pork imports outside MAV, the recommendation is for the tariff
to be reduced to 15 to 20 percent from the current 40 percent.
This is to augment the supply of pork in the country, which has been
severely affected by the continuous spread of the African Swine Fever
(ASF).
https://mb.com.ph/2021/02/01/cut-on-rice-tariff-ill-timed-farmers/
Nigerian Rice Processors urge FG to take actions to curb sales of
foreign rice
Mr. Andy Ekwelem has appealed to the Federal Government to take
proactive actions to curb the sale of foreign rice.
Published
22 hours ago
on
February 1, 2021
By

8. Omokolade Ajayi
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

9. The Director-General of Rice Processors Association of Nigeria
(RPAN), Mr. Andy Ekwelem has appealed to the Federal Government to
take proactive actions to curb the sale of foreign rice in the country.
This appeal was made by him while addressing reporters in Abuja, over
the influx of smuggled rice into the country.
According to a news report by the News Agency of Nigeria, Ekwelem
called on the government to take active and decisive action to ensure
that the Nigerian borders do not become porous, as the influx of
smuggled rice would stimulate the collapse of all the mills in the
country, and this would exacerbate the state of unemployment in the
country.
READ: Lagos multi-billion naira 32MT per hour rice mill to be
completed by Q1 2021
According to him, the rice value chain sub-sector had engaged about 13
million Nigerians on direct employment, hence if the border is not
properly controlled, the number of people that would lose their jobs to
the activities of smugglers would be much and this would be devastating
for the economy.
He said addressing this challenge of smuggling was paramount so that
all the efforts, commitments, and resources put in the rice value-chain
sub-sector would not be a waste. However, the gains made in the sub-
sector in the last few years were only possible through the support and
interventions of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Ekwelem also called on the Nigeria Customs Service to step up in the
manning of the borders to curb the activities of smugglers.
READ: NEPC and Akwa Ibom government to partner on palm oil
exports
What Ekwelem is saying
Mr. Andy Ekwelem said:
“We have said it many times on the need for government to criminalize
sales of foreign rice in the markets and supermarkets. Rice is number
one on the list of prohibited products in which CBN placed forex
restriction

10. “It is assumed that any rice you see in this country now, in the markets,
shops and even in your homes that is not Nigeria made rice, it is
smuggled into the country.
“The country is losing revenue because these smugglers are not paying
the right duties to bring the rice into the country and this ugly
development is killing our economy.
READ: Dangote says Nigeria loses 300,000 MT of sugar to
smuggling every year
“We want a law that will empower law enforcement agencies to go to
markets and shops to arrest anyone found with foreign rice because
their action amounts to economic sabotage.
“When that is done, people will be discouraged from buying from these
people that smuggled rice into the country. We need to take drastic
measures against smugglers as well as those selling the products.”
READ: Local rice floods major markets in Nigeria, as frozen food
sellers lament low patronage
What you should know
 Ekwelem, lauded President Muhammadu Buhari for his giant
stride in rice production, as about N3.4 trillion has been invested
in the entire rice value chain production across the country.
 He revealed that there were only six Integrated Rice Mills in the
country before 2015, in recent times, Integrated Rice Mills in the
country had risen to about 60.
 It is essential to understand that most of the mills in the country
were now working at half capacity because there were no off-
takers for the products they produced for Nigerian markets.
https://nairametrics.com/2021/02/01/nigerian-rice-processors-urge-fg-to-
take-actions-to-curb-sales-of-foreign-rice/
Giang province expands high-tech rice cultivation
The Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang will spend more than 34.5
billion VND (1.5 million USD) to expand high-tech rice growing areas
to 4,000ha this year as part of an expansion plan to 2025.

11. VNA Monday, February 01, 2021 20:26
RELATED NEWS
Tien Giang aims to create jobs for 16,000 labourers in 2021
Wednesday, January 13, 2021 20:49
Tien Giang eyes 3.25 billion USD in 2021 export revenue
Monday, January 04, 2021 15:46
Tien Giang shifts to high-value crops to adapt to climate change
Thursday, December 24, 2020 18:13
High-quality rice variety VD 20 is grown for exports in Tien Giang
province’s Go Cong Tay district. (Photo: VNA)
Tien Giang (VNA) - The Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang will
spend more than 34.5 billion VND (1.5 million USD) to expand high-
tech rice growing areas to 4,000ha this year as part of an expansion plan
to 2025.

12. Under the plan, which began last year, high-tech rice growing areas are
located mostly in the major agricultural districts Cai Be, Cai Lay, Go
Cong Tay and Go Cong Dong.
These areas grow high-quality rice varieties like Nang Hoa 9, Dai Thom
8, OM 4900, OM 5451 and ST 24.
The department has organised 200 training courses to provide advanced
rice growing techniques to 6,000 farmers.
It has also established two high-tech rice growing processes that both
grow rice under good agricultural practices (GAP) and use machines for
cultivation.
Participating farmers are instructed to use advanced techniques known
as “three reductions and three increases” and "one must and five
reductions”.
The "one must and five reductions" technique uses certified seeds and
reduces the number of seedlings, plant protection chemicals, nitrogenous
fertilisers, irrigation, and post-harvest losses.
Farmers sow 100 kilogrammes of seeds per hectare and use certified
seeds. They are also given guidance on how to sow rice under certain
schedules to avoid damage from the brown plant hopper, which is the
main rice pest and transmits disease.
Last year, the province spent more than 10.3 billion VND (446,000
USD) to implement the expansion project.
The money was used to buy machines and other items for agriculture co-
operatives, organise rice-model demonstrations and training courses for
farmers, and provide financial support for farmers to buy seeds and
material inputs.

13. Forty percent of the cost of seeds and material inputs for farmers was
paid by the project.
Last year, the province organised rice-model demonstrations on a total
area of more than 40ha in the districts Cai Be, Cai Lay, Go Cong Dong
and Go Cong Tay.
Rice planted under rice-model demonstrations had an average yield of
6.25 tonnes per hectare, up 200kg compared to normal fields. The
production cost was 3,100 VND a kilo, down 295 VND a kilo compared
to normal fields.
The profit from rice planted under rice-model demonstrations was 20
million VND (860 USD) per hectare a crop, up 4 million VND (170
USD) compared to normal fields.
Rice planted under this project is guaranteed outlets by rice companies./.
https://en.vietnamplus.vn/tien-giang-province-expands-hightech-rice-
cultivation/195752.vnp
Agricultural sector reduces rice-growing areas, improves rice
quality
01/02/2021

14. Rice harvesting in the Mekong Delta. (Photo: SGGP)
The domestic rice industry has innovated its post-harvest and processing
technologies in the past many years to achieve the above results.
According to the Department of Crop Production under the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), there are more than 550
large-scale mechanical milling facilities across the country, mainly
concentrated in the Mekong Delta, accounting for 95 percent. They
apply post-harvest technologies, such as modern combine harvester and
advanced rice processing technology. Especially, the milling, polishing,
and preservation technologies have improved, so post-harvest loss has
declined by 11-13 percent to below 10 percent.
Total industrial processing production accounts for about 55-60 percent
of processing output. The rest is processed in small facilities to serve
domestic consumption. Agro-ecological zones, that are severely affected
by climate change, such as drought and saltwater intrusion, namely the
South Central Coast, Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan provinces, the Central
Highlands, and coastal areas in Mekong Delta provinces, have actively
changed the structure of crops and animals, instead of growing rice.

15. In 2018, the MARD registered to protect the trademark of rice
domestically and internationally. The World Intellectual Property
Organization issued a code for the trademark certifying the Vietnamese
rice brand and forwarded the registration dossier to 20 designated
countries and territories, including Australia, Brunei, Switzerland,
China, the EU, Indonesia, Japan, Cambodia, South Korea, Laos,
Liechtenstein, Mexico, Norway, New Zealand, the OAPI, the
Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, and the US.
According to the Institute for Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and
Rural Development, in 2018, the average cost of rice production was
about VND18.05 million per hectare, and farmers profited over 75
percent of production costs. To export 3.5 million tons of rice, Vietnam
will need 3.3 million hectares of paddy fields by 2030, 760,000 hectares
lower than that in the present, but still ensuring domestic rice supply.
For the export target of 4.5 million tons of rice, the country will need
3.56 million hectares of paddy fields by 2030. Thus, the agricultural
sector can reduce 616,000 hectares of paddy fields and still ensure
domestic consumption. Inefficient rice-growing areas will be converted
to other agricultural activities with higher income.
The master plan on the use of rice land was approved. However, it has
not been carried out strictly and thoroughly. The conversion of rice land
in disadvantaged areas remains sluggish, and the areas of rice-growing
land converted to growing fruit trees and other more efficient crops are
not large.
According to the Department of Crop Production, besides ensuring food
security, the department ensures that the criteria of value, quality, and
increasing income for farmers will replace the criteria of quantity.
Especially, enterprises take the initiative in copyrights on seeds, seed
production for raw material growing areas, the direction of production
techniques, technical supervision, purchasing, drying, and processing.
The entire production process must be applied science, technology, and

16. mechanization to respond to climate change. The State continues to
support the completion of inter-regional traffic, irrigation systems,
freshwater reservoirs to actively respond to saltwater intrusion and
drought and warehouses to reduce storage losses and logistics costs.
By Thanh Hai – Translated by Bao Nghi
climate change drought Mekong Delta provinces rice exports rice
farmers rice-growing areas saltwater intrusion Vietnamese
richttps://vnexplorer.net/agricultural-sector-reduces-rice-growing-areas-
improves-rice-quality-a2021116742.htm
Popeyes got rid of Cajun rice. Frenchy's would never.
Matt Young, Chron.com / Houston Chronicle
Feb. 1, 2021Updated: Feb. 1, 2021 10:29 a.m.
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Comments
When you see this building, you already know what it is: Three-piece
dinner, spicy with dirty rice and an extra biscuit. Except now, Popeyes
has discontinued its Cajun Rice.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Besides the standard greetings - "What's up?", "Good morning" and
"Yes, I agree the Astros cheated, but every other team does it, too" -
there are few things I've said more in my life than:
"Three-piece dinner, spicy, dirty rice and an extra biscuit."
TASTEMAKER: Frenchy's makes the list of Beyoncé's favorite
Houston food spots
It starts reflexively bellowing from my gullet any time I see those
biscuit-colored walls with the red awnings.
Occasionally, the decidedly best fast food order in the history of meals
cheaper than $10 is met with, "It's going to be five minutes for spicy,"
and hey, man, I've got all day, because if I wanted mild chicken I'd go to
that place with the original herbs and spices, none of which contain any
actual spice.
Recently, my usual got met with a wholly unacceptable response.

17. "We don't have Cajun rice anymore."
Now, wait a damn minute. First off, I see you Popeyes employee,
proving to me that you paid attention at orientation and making sure I
realize I'm ordering Cajun Rice (TM), instead of dirty rice. But, my
momma called it dirty rice. I'm gonna call it dirty rice.
Second, did you just take an entire favorite off the menu without
consulting with us, the people?
Turns out, they did.
“At Popeyes, we are always listening to feedback from our guests and
looking for ways to improve our menu," an official statement from
Popeyes reads. "So after thoughtful consideration, our Cajun Rice and
Green Beans are no longer on the permanent menu. However, we still
have a bunch of delicious sides.”
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Good call on the green beans. None of us were trying to eat green beans
with our fast food chicken, but the delicious dirty rice?
Maybe, let's not listen to "feedback from our guests," when those
suggestion box slips probably come from inconsequential humans
ordering mild chicken.
You know who didn't do this to us?
Frenchy's.
You can still walk into a Frenchy's and order a Campus Special with
dirty rice as the side, as God intended. And, while you're there, you can
get an order of Boudin Balls. As my grandfather would say: I didn't even
know boudin had balls, but here we are.

18. Unfortunately, Popeyes has Frenchy's outnumbered in Houston about
10-to-1, but there's not a Popeye's on the map that can mess with the
Frenchy's on Scott Street. And, now there's not a Popeyes anywhere that
will give the people what they want: A side of dirty rice with their
chicken.
Food
Food
https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:H49ZgC84f7c
J:https://www.chron.com/food/article/Popeyes-Cajun-Rice-dirty-rice-
gone-menu-Frenchys-15913767.php+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=pk