In Thailand, for instance, a tax on rice exports insulated the domestic market from price movements in the international market, depressing the price of rice and reducing the wage costs of non-agricultural employers. The AOA forced open agricultural markets by banning quotas, which were converted to tariffs, and required governments to import a minimum volume of each agricultural commodity at a low tariff. At the same time, under the pretext of controlling the heavy subsidization of...

Most suppliers wanted to offer a price discount to attract demand as some farmers have begun harvesting a major crop, a Bangkok-based exporter said. They said stronger demand for grains in the world market and high dependency on imports by China and Indonesia would keep rice prices high. Even without a stronger currency, prices aren't likely to fall sharply with the expected arrival of fresh supply from the second crop, exporters said. But the currency has been stronger again since last...

New Delhi: India will renegotiate with Russia, at this month s bilateral talks scheduled to be held in Moscow, rules governing exports of rice to that country which have been under a question mark since December 2006 that month, Russia banned imports of Indian rice on the grounds that it contained Aflatoxin, a potential health hazard. India to renegotiate rice import ban with Russia - livemint Log has written. New Delhi: India will renegotiate with Russia, at this month s bilateral talks...

Prices of food products, including wheat and pulses, have been blamed for the spurt in inflation, which touched a two-year high of 6.7 per cent in January. To control the prices of wheat, the Centre banned futures trading as well as exports, allowed duty-free import of wheat and raised its procurement price by Rs 150 a quintal. Later this month, they will discuss a proposal to exempt rice, wheat and pulses from value added tax. Food inflation, which rose to about 10 per cent in January...

Weed specialists may be unknown to many people, but to the farmers who grow the crops of our country they are indispensable. Without the diligent research of these men and women, crop yields would be drastically lower than the production levels we know today. Michael Moechnig, Extension weed specialist at SDSU, spends his mornings in his office answering questions and identifying samples that are sent to him. Farmers have been growing the same crop of rice year after year in the same...