Nigerians have taken to social media to rejoice about a significant price shift in the price of a bag of rice amidst the Federal Government's efforts to stabilise commodity prices. The reports of a price reduction from N80,000 to N60,000 were a huge relief among Nigerians who have struggled to buy basic food items in the past year.

In a chat with reporters in Abuja yesterday, an executive member of the Rice Processors Association of Nigeria (RIPAN), Mohammed Abba Liman, said “the government needs to provide serviceable loans to real and identifiable rice processors in each state of the federation” and declared that “it is not in the interest of the federal government to encourage the importation of rice…

In his bid to make Jigawa state a bedrock for massive wheat producrion, Jigawa state Governor,  Mallam Umar Namadi,  has embarked on a  study tour to Ethiopia with a high-level delegation comprising key aides on agricultural matters, officials, and professionals from the state’s Ministry of Agriculture and relevant agencies.

The fact that hunger is destroying the Country is infuriating and frustrating. The cost of a 50 kg bag of rice has skyrocketed, ranging from 60 to 77k, out of reach for the average Nigerian. The salary of graduates of tertiary institutions can hardly purchase a bag of rice. I am exasperated each time I see the price of rice hitting 77k and above. My annoyance originates from my humble knowledge of the solutions to the issues. 

So far, 17 states have received their shares of the over 1 million 10kg rice, being distributed by the Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF), across the 774 local governments in Nigeria Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the ADF, Zouera Youssoufou, said the Foundation would ensure that all the local governments in Nigeria get their shares of the rice before the end of the Ramadan period.

lobal grain supplies are comfortable, thus prices have continued to moderate. For example, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations Cereals Price Index, which measures the monthly change in international prices of grains, averaged 111  points in March 2024, down 3% from its February level and 20% below its March 2023 value. 

Nearly 55 million people in West and Central Africa will struggle to feed themselves in the June-August 2024 lean season, according to the March 2024 Cadre Harmonisé food security analysis released by the Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS).

The impact of the El Niño-induced drought on farming conditions is vast, and some provinces' patches of better crop conditions and grazing veld conditions have also deteriorated in some regions. This is according to the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (Dalrrd) Thoko Didiza who met organised agriculture leaders…

Over the next three years, more than 100,000 smallholder farmers from across 22 counties in Kenya will have better access to agricultural inputs through an initiative projected to sprout the country’s food production.

The Chief Executive, Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI), Dr. Olufemi Oladunni has urged farmers to explore the $13.08 billion global basmati rice market to save the country foreign from importation. Basmati rice is a good source of energy due to its high carbohydrate content and provides essential nutrients like vitamins and minerals.

While tariffs were in place, AEGIC continued to engage with the Chinese barley industry to help them stay connected and informed, providing information on new varieties, accreditation developments and industry updates. In late (September) 2023, following the removal of tariffs, AEGIC hosted two major Australian Barley Technical Conferences in Beijing and Guangzhou.

A newly released Rabobank annual outlook has found Australia’s agricultural sector is “moving confidently into 2024”. Rabobank’s recent agricultural outlook says a combination of better-than-expected seasonal conditions and lower input costs has helped set up the sector for a strong year.

Australian farmers must continue to adapt to a changing climate or risk seeing their profits halve by 2050, say CSIRO experts. A new report from Australia's national science agency has been released after examining what a sustainable future for agriculture looks like.

A state government-backed taskforce will assess drought and mental health support for WA farmers who face the prospect of culling herds as they experience one of the driest autumns on record. The announcement comes as producers who sweltered through the hottest summer on record endure soaring feed costs as the hot dry weather flows into autumn.

AUSTRALIA exported 2,311,024 tonnes of wheat and durum in total in February, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The figure is down 12 percent from 2,620,100t shipped in January, and 24pc from 3,038,779t sent in February 2023.

The NSW Government will introduce a Bill to Parliament in May, to develop a new rice export marketing and trade arrangement for the Northern Rivers rice growing region. The government said this is an important step in the commitment to bring new opportunities to the state’s agriculture sector, and to ensure regulations do not hinder industry growth.

TRADED volume in the north remains thin as the market waits for a clearer picture of sorghum quality post-rain to develop. In the south, market activity has picked up a little thanks to increased confidence in new-crop planting, now under way on many farms.

Do you know how much water you need or could store coming into a drought or dry season? If you don’t, you’re not alone. Murray Local Land Services senior land services officer Paul Simpson said nearly 90 per cent of farmers attending field days on farm dams in 2022 in the Murray region didn’t know what their needs would be.

Extreme weather caused by climate change is already costing farmers in Wales tens of millions of pounds, a report has said. The effects of changing weather patterns cost farmers £175m in 2018 alone, a new report for WWF Cymru estimates.

In the week ending 11 April 2024, large areas in the eastern Australia were affected by a severe weather system with recorded rainfall of up to 200 millimetres in southern Queensland and 400 millimetres in New South Wales. Cropping regions in Queensland and New South Wales will benefit from boost in soil moisture levels required for winter crops and pasture growth.

"Grain production in Ukraine has remained unprofitable since the Russia's invasion, and this is expected to translate into decreased grain area for MY (marketing year) 2024/25. With CY (calendar year) 2024 yields forecast below the previous near-record-breaking CY2023, the total grain MY2024/25 production volume is forecast to be lower than for the previous marketing year.

Lithuania suspended regular grain imports in May 2023, and the last delivery took place in July. The first supply since that break was in February: 12.2 thousand tonnes worth 1.95m Euros were imported. Latvia has also increased imports: at the end of winter, it bought 58.8 thousand tonnes of grain from Russia and paid 10m Euros…

Russia, one of the world's largest wheat exporters, will have 50 million tonnes of grain available for export in the new July-June marketing season, up from more than 37 million tonnes in the current season, its agriculture minister said. Russia competes with the European Union and Ukraine to supply wheat to the Middle East and Africa.

The profitability of some farms in the European is being squeezed by lower agricultural prices, according to a new report published today (Tuesday, April 16). While high commodity prices in 2022 and 2023 helped offset input costs for farmers over the last two years, the fall in commodity prices towards the close of last year has continued to reverberate and is now impacting on levels of farm profitability.

Deputy Minister of Agricultural Policy Taras Vysotskyi said that, starting in June, the EU will introduce restrictions on importing certain types of Ukrainian agricultural products if their supply exceeds the quota. Therefore, Ukrainian exporters must look for alternative sales markets because the quotas are smaller than Ukraine’s capabilities.

Early estimates show that the losses of agricultural enterprises and land in the Kharkiv Oblast due to Russian aggression amount to UAH 18.1 billion (US$464 million). "There are 2,100 businesses of various ownership forms in the oblast, of which 630 have been affected," said Syniehubov.

Humans are by nature prone to overreaction. Therefore, so are governments. The legislative pendulum swings wildly in one direction, which inevitably leads to problems. The response is often an extreme reaction, sending the pendulum too far in the opposite direction, creating a different set of problems.

Romania and Poland are allowing Ukrainian food products to pass through their territory until the European Commission decides on the matter. Bucharest has also called on other countries to lift restrictions after Kyiv promised to implement additional security measures for the transportation of agricultural products.

Strategie Grains has edged up its forecast for the European Union's 2024 soft wheat harvest reflecting favourable conditions in Spain, but output was still expected to fall sharply from last year due to heavy rain elsewhere, it said. Harvest prospects in the EU are among supply risks being monitored by traders as Northern Hemisphere crops enter the sensitive spring growing season.

Hungary’s government will place new restrictions on the import of Ukrainian agricultural products, the country’s agricultural minister said Thursday, a move designed to protect Hungarian farmers from market fluctuations caused by cheaper Ukrainian imports.

The significance of Brazil's corn and soybean production is a topic that deeply intrigues us and fuels ongoing debates. Just six months ago, delays in soybean planting caused a spike in soybean prices, only for the market to retract as conditions improved. Such estimate fluctuations and discussions are a familiar sight among our southern neighbors. Yet, what's particularly fascinating now is the perspective offered by both the USDA and Conab.

The Argentina government announced a reduction in taxes for the importation of herbicides, a measure announced by the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo, aiming to favor agriculture.  The changes include significantly reducing tariffs for herbicides formulated with Atrazine, Glyphosate, and 2-4-D.

Cuba and Vietnam agreed on Monday to a protocol that covers new agreements to strengthen bilateral cooperation in numerous sectors of the economy, trade, investment and other areas, such as education and science. The document is the result of the 41st Intergovernmental Commission for bilateral economic and scientific-technical collaboration…

With El Niño exacerbating a severe drought, Bogota’s ten million residents face water rationing, prompting urgent calls for conservation and a reassessment of urban and agricultural practices. Bogota, a vibrant metropolis in the Andean highlands, confronts an environmental crisis that echoes across its streets and into the fabric of daily life. 

South American corn production numbers will be lower than expected, especially in Argentina. Dr. Michael Cordonnier with Soybean and Corn Advisors, Inc., says Argentina’s corn crop is suffering from unexpected pest pressure. “USDA left their soybean estimate unchanged at 50 (million tons).

Prolonged rainfall over Argentina's farming heartland has fueled fears of delays to the ongoing soybean harvest that could cause production losses, the Rosario grains exchange said on Monday. Since Friday, at least 70 millimeters (2.76 inches) of rain fell across most of the agricultural region, with peaks of 140 millimeters in some parts.

In 2022, the China-aided Suriname Agricultural Technical Cooperation Center launched a technical assistance project, including 10 training sessions for over 300 individuals. Surinamese President Chandrikapersad Santokhi attended the launch ceremony.

Already a major soybean, corn, and cotton grower, Brazil could expand its crop area by more than a third by converting overgrazed and overgrown pastureland, according to a research agency that is part of the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture. Besides the potential addition of 70 million acres of cropland, Brazil could increase production…

TWO or three decades ago, the Guyana economy rested on the tripod of the sugar, bauxite and rice industries. If all three industries functioned very well and could sell their products profitably in the foreign markets, the country experienced a phase of prosperity. 

The role of land in increasing food production has accounted for over 50% of the increase in crop output in South America since the 2000s (see farmdoc daily, March 6, 2024), with Brazil standing out as a big player. Most of this growth has occurred as a result of the conversion of pastureland, particularly in the Brazilian savanna, the Cerrado.

Any conflict in the Middle East could significantly affect crude oil prices, given that a majority of the world's crude oil supply originates from this region. The geopolitical instability in the Middle East has historically been a key factor driving volatility in oil markets. 

Egypt’s Minister of Agriculture El Sayed El Quseir, announced Monday that Egyptian agricultural exports exceeded 2.2 million tons of agricultural products in the first quarter of 2024, amounting to about $1.5 billion, an increase of $300 million over the same period of the previous year.

Wheat imports for Jordan are estimated to reach 1.2 million tonnes in 2024-25 as the government begins filling its strategic grain reserves to mitigate inflationary shocks caused by geopolitical crises, according to a report from the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the US Department of Agriculture.

Iran’s rain of drones and missiles may have caused little damage to Israel. However, the impact of an escalation in West Asia could be widespread. Market watchers believe it could lead to rising oil prices as well as impact trade and travel plans. Iran stepped out of the shadows on Saturday (13 April) and launched an unprecedented attack against Israel.

Kazakhstan has extended the ban on wheat imports for another six months, reports  the Ministry of Agriculture.“Order of the Minister of Agriculture dated April 11, 2024 No. 125 impose a ban on the import of wheat into the Republic of Kazakhstan, including from the EAEU member states…

The ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel could disrupt the aviation and shipping industries, sparking concerns over air travel safety and maritime security worldwide, besides a potential rise in airfares, increased war-risk premium for vessels operating in the area, as well as risks to agriculture trade.

Oil prices are expected to rise on Monday after Iran’s attack on Israel over the weekend, analysts said on Sunday, but further gains may depend on how Israel and the West choose to retaliate. Iran launched explosive drones and missiles at Israel late on Saturday in retaliation for a suspected Israeli attack on its consulate in Syria on April 1…

The worst hit areas in Russia are just to the south of the Ural Mountains, about 1,200 km (750 miles) east of Moscow. Emergencies have been declared in the Orenburg and Kurgan regions of the Urals and in the Tyumen region in western Siberia, which is the largest hydrocarbon basin in the world.

A seminar on the topic of crop area diversification was held in Osakarovka village, Karaganda oblast, by the “Auyl” party. It is planned to reduce sown areas under wheat, replacing them with oilseeds, legumes and fodder crops. This should provide higher margins for agricultural production, as well as support livestock breeding and oil refining, which is currently experiencing a shortage of raw materials.

Global oil demand in the summer is expected to be strong as consumption of transportation fuels is set to rise across the board and across regions with summer and holiday travel picking up, OPEC said on Thursday. The group sees a “robust oil demand outlook for the summer months.”

Rice export prices decreased 1-3 percent as the Thai baht weakened.

In market year (MY) 2024/2025, FAS (Post) forecasts Venezuela’s corn production to reach 1.36 million metric tons (MMT), 5 percent higher year-on-year due to favorable weather conditions.

In 2023, feed demand was low due to weak demand in Europe and the United States for Vietnamese produced aquaculture products.

Rice production in Cambodia is forecast to increase due to higher rice prices and the use of higher quality seeds.

FAS/San José anticipates Costa Rica's Ministry of Foreign Trade to allocate 2024 Dominican Republic - Central America Free Trade Agreement rice quota allocations by the end of April, effectively constraining the availability of U.S. duty-free rice to the final eight months of 2024.

Costa Rica reinstated 35 percent tariffs on non-U.S.-origin rice after an administrative court overturned an August 2022 tariff reduction and the Government’s appeal was rejected.

In the south, long and medium grain milled rice steady. Parboiled prices steady. Second heads and Brewers steady. Rice by-products: Rice Bran, Millfeed and Rice Hulls mostly steady. In California, medium grain milled rice steady to weak. Second heads and Brewers mostly steady. Rice by-products: Rice Bran and rice hulls steady.

The outlook for 2023/24 U.S. wheat is for stable supplies, lower domestic use, unchanged exports, and higher ending stocks

Outstanding export sales and exports by country, region and marketing year

Commodity Futures Price Quotes For US Dollar Index (ICE Futures)

Profit is growing further out of reach for U.S. wheat farmers and many do not expect to break even in 2024 as ample global supply keeps prices around their lowest in nearly four years at the same time costs including equipment and transport remain high. The current state of the U.S. wheat market will hit winter wheat farmers in the Great Plains hard.

The head of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture says the Biden administration has to step up its efforts to increase demand for US ag goods. Ted McKinney says he respects the administration for what it is trying to do. “There is a lot you can do just to enforce existing trade agreements or existing WTO compliance,” he says. 

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said on Tuesday that India's decision to remove retaliatory tariffs on several US products has improved access to chickpeas, lentils, almonds, walnuts, and apples and is benefiting farmers across the country.

Following two consecutive years of decline (see Figure 1), United States rice production increased to roughly 2.9 million acres in 2023. In 2022 and 2023, the world was consuming more rice, which showed up in the long grain rice Marketing Year Average Prices (MYAP) of $16.70/cwt and $15.7/cwt, respectively. Production increases in 2023 (see Figure 1) followed 2022 high prices that were last seen around harvest of 2013.

Those who know little about production agriculture will often ask us why we have a farm safety net in the United States. While there are several justifications to choose from, one of the most notable is that farm policy is designed to help level the playing field for U.S. agricultural producers in the global marketplace. In this article, we illustrate the case of rice.

Slowing demand for key commodities such as wheat and soybeans continues to depress prices for farmers, according to the latest estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Meanwhile, rising prices could spell long-term volatility for the meat industry.

The grain market needs a friend this spring. Several sources for this helping hand were in play last week, but none really stepped forward. However, corn and soybean prices finally stabilized on Friday to keep nearby futures off March lows. The most likely suspect usually is USDA, but April’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates came and went without much impact.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai appears Tuesday before the House Ways & Means Committee on the Biden administration’s trade policy. On Wednesday she will address the Senate Finance Committee on the same topic. Farm-state lawmakers and farm groups are disgruntled regarding what they believe to be a very passive approach by the Biden administration regarding efforts to boost farm commodity exports.

From field to fork, the agriculture industry is facing a labor and skills shortage that is hurting its productivity growth, sustainability and economic impact. Competition for workers is fierce, and agriculture faces unique challenges such as a smaller labor pool in rural areas where agriculture is concentrated and a lack of knowledge in the career opportunities agriculture offers.

Statewide Iowa – The weather is warming and the tractors are chugging away as Iowa farmers are starting the planting season. Angie Rieck Hinz, a field agronomist with the Iowa State University Extension, says she’s seeing plenty of activity this week in the northern part of the state.

In the paper “News Event-Driven Forecasting of Commodity Prices,” NYU Stern Professor Srikanth Jagabathula, along with co-authors Sunandan Chakraborty (Indiana University), Lakshminarayanan Subramanian (NYU Courant Institute), and Ashwin Venkataraman (UT Dallas), looks for a solution to more accurately forecast commodity prices given the volatility of real-world events that impact those prices.

Russia intends to establish a “grain exchange” with BRICS nations, aspiring to use this trade alliance of nine emerging countries to challenge Western dominance in agricultural trade. While the officially declared purpose of the inter-bloc grain exchange is to facilitate trade between BRICS member states, analysts say that the new alliance actually aims to become an analogue of the Organization…

A cooperation agreement by the Philippines, the United States and Japan will change the dynamic in the South China Sea and the region, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Friday, while seeking to assure China it was not a target. “I think the trilateral agreement is extremely important,” Marcos told a press conference…

Global shipping disruptions continue to impact grain merchandisers. CHS CEO Jay Debertin says the Baltimore bridge collapse is affecting the movement of ag commodities, but not to the degree of the Panama and Suez canals. “Two shortcuts around the world for many ag commodities, and they aren’t working smoothly right now for different reasons.

The Cameroonian Ministry of Commerce announced yesterday a significant reduction in rice prices effective Friday. This price adjustment follows the arrival of a portion of the 190,000 metric tons of rice negotiated with India.

Earlier today USDA released the April World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report. U.S. corn ending stocks were decreased, but not as much as traders expected. Soybean ending stocks were increased more than expected, although Joe Lardy, a research analyst with CHS, says that can be explained by USDA holding soybean crush steady in the report.

According to a report by the Cambodian Rice Federation, in the first quarter of 2024, Cambodia exported 167,000 tons of rice , with an export value of US$120 million. Among them, 43,000 tons were exported to China , accounting for 25.8% of the total export volume, a decrease of 49% compared with the same period last year. 

In an election-packed year, markets have so far shrugged off results, with the focus squarely on the one contest that could reverberate across everything from international trade to emerging market debt: the United States presidential race in November. Voters in India, meanwhile, will cast ballots later this month…

Global grain production in 2023-2024 may be 1.3% higher than a year earlier and amount to 2.828 billion tons, taking into account the increase in production of corn, rice and wheat, FAO (the UN Food and Agriculture Organization) predicts.

Soybean futures were pressured Thursday by lower-than-expected export sales and abundant South American production. Kansas City and Chicago wheat futures ended mixed while Minneapolis wheat futures closed with solid gains. Traders processed news that a Russian grain trader had refuted prior reports that some of its exports were being restricted by local authorities. 

When she ventured into rice farming more than ten years ago, Grace Okello was optimistic that the crop would be the game-changer to transform her economic fortunes. And like the other farmers, she focused on the local seeds that most farmers in Bunyala and its environs have always relied on.

Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) is partnering with an inter-governmental, non-profit organization in identifying a potential biocontrol agent that may help stave off infestations of fall armyworm (FAW).

Rice is the most important staple food in the world, and its management is therefore of vital importance. Rice management of the people of Kasepuhan Sinarresmi, Sukabumi Regency West Java, Indonesia is symbolized in cultural practices of farming.

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF) signed a cooperation agreement to implement the Capacity Building for Sustainable and Low-Carbon Rice Innovations in Southeast Asia (Cabin) project.

Researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), in collaboration with teams at ETH Zurich and Taiwan's National Chung Hsing University (NCHU), have achieved a significant advance in the fight against vitamin B1deficiency, frequently associated with a rice-based diet.

Rice has become a big part of Ghanaians' daily diet. The country consumes about 1.45 million tons a year—but produces only 987,000 tons, approximately 68% of that. Efforts to produce more rice often involve providing improved seeds and fertilizers for farmers to increase their farm size. This results in increased labor-intensive work for smallholder farmers.

US agriculture groups are urging government officials to deny a request for zero emissions standards for freight locomotives in California, saying such regulations pose “a significant danger” to US agriculture and the supply chain. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is proposing an “In-Use Locomotive Regulation” that would mandate by 2030 the use of only zero-emissions locomotives in California.

“Russia and Ukraine are selling their wheat at below production costs. I've suspected this and we've suspected that for a long time, but men of course they are trying to fund the war. But it matters because a market like Nigeria is one where we have had a strong market share for many, many years.

The growing global concern about food security will be exacerbated by a projected population increase of nearly 10 billion by the year 2050. Rice cultivation is central to this discussion, as it feeds more than half of the world’s population. This systematic review addresses the urgent issue of global food security with an emphasis on sustainable rice farming. 

USAID Morodok Baitang is working with local farmers in Cambodia to advance low-emissions agriculture and reduce deforestation in and around protected areas. By providing economic incentives to help farmers adapt to and mitigate climate change, USAID Morodok Baitang demonstrates how agriculture can be climate-smart, conservation-friendly, and economically viable.