rice

The El Niño weather pattern, now on the wane, is the prime reason for crop-killing drought in Vietnam, "but it is not the only one," says the New York Times. Scientists say a contributing factor is the government's "rice first" policy, which leads to planting of three rice crops a year instead of the traditional one or two. The intensive growing depletes soil nutrients and magnifies the impact of drought.

The outlook for wheat and corn crops in the major grain-growing countries of the world has improved by 10 million tonnes in the past month, said the International Grains Council in forecasting the second-largest global grain harvest ever. Despite an upturn in consumption, the grain carry-over at the end of 2016/17 would be a record 474 million tonnes, up 6 million tonnes from 2015/16, the current record.

Rice cereal is a common "starter" food for infants, but rice has higher levels of inorganic arsenic, a potential health risk, than other grains.

A massive farm in Central Valley, California, is teaming with Israeli water experts running the first ever experiment with drip irrigation for rice production in the U.S.

Growers plan a 20-percent increase in rice plantings this year in Arkansas, the state that often grows half of the U.S. rice crop, says U-Arkansas.

The rice harvest for the world's largest rice exporter, Thailand, is shriveling due to water shortages. USDA forecasts a crop of 10 million tonnes for 2015/16, down 15 percent from last season.

Rice farmers curtailed plantings by nearly 2 percent in the face of dry weather caused by the El Niño weather pattern, leading to the smallest world rice crop in four years.

Researchers at Purdue say genetically engineering plants to produce high levels of the protein PYL9 can dramatically improve drought tolerance in rice.

For Huey Johnson, the "grand old man" of environmentalists in California, "the idea of rearing salmon in fallowed rice fields started in a duck blind," says Yale e360. Surrounded by acres of flooded fields, Johnson wondered what could be done with all the water. "His answer: Grow fish."

In a rain-making ritual, women in a village in Java chant, "All farmers let us pray that rain comes and washes our sorrow away," reports Reuters. Seasonal rains are late in reaching Java, the main rice-growing island of Indonesia, the fourth-most populous nation in the world with 254 million people.

With Trans-Pacific Partnership talks at a crucial point, Japan plans to offer immediate duty-free entry for 50,000 tonnes of U.S. rice, gradually rising to 70,000 tonnes, says Nikkei.

Michael Schläppi, a molecular biologist at Marquette University, "is experimenting with growing rice in the Midwest," says the NPR blog The Salt.

"Cooking rice by repeatedly flushing it through with fresh hot water can remove much of the grain’s stored arsenic," says the journal Nature, citing newly published research on how to reduce levels of arsenic is one of the world's staple foods.

Rice is a staple of half the world's population and also a potent emitter of greenhouse gases. But the Los Angeles Times reports that scientists say genetic engineering may help solve the grain's methane problem.

Japanese media say Tokyo "is prepared to increase its import quota for U.S. rice by 50,000 tonnes a year, about a quarter of the U.S. goal, Reuters said at the end of bilateral talks between trade negotiators.

A state survey shows a 30-percent drop in the population of breeding waterfowl in California in one year due to drought and poor habitat, says the Sacramento Bee.

The global rice market is still feeling the impact of India’s decision last August to limit its rice exports in the name of battling high domestic food prices, said two IFPRI analysts. “Rice-importing countries in sub-Saharan Africa have felt the greatest impacts, scrambling to find alternative sources even as global rice prices have risen more than 20 percent since India imposed its restrictions,” they wrote in a blog.