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<keyword id="6354306" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="puducherry" source="Orion">Puducherry</keyword>, The Agriculture institute in Karaikal, Puducherry has developed a new <keyword id="13726" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rice" source="Orion">rice</keyword> variety that can tolerate floods. The rice variety was developed with the support of the Department of Biotechnology, Central government.<br /><br />The rice variety, KKL(R)2 was developed by a team of researchers led by Dr. S. Thirumeni, Head of the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru College of Agriculture and Research Institute.<br /><br />During samba/thalady season, the paddy crop is affected in rain and short-term submergence leads to the destruction of these crops. The institute has been working on the development of water submergence-tolerant rice varieties.<br /><br />Dr S. Thirumeni told IANS, "The new variety KKL(R)2 was developed by crossing ADT 46 and Swarna Sub 1 through the 'Marker Assisted Backcross Method' three times."<br /><br />He also said that the new rice variety matures in 135 days and is suitable for the Samba season. The scientist said that this rice variety is tolerant to flash floods and submergence for a period of 14 days during the tillering stage.<br /><br />Dr Thirumeni and his team told IANS that the average grain yield of KKL(R) 2 is 6,850 kg per hectare under normal circumstances but under submerged conditions, it can give a yield of 3,600 kg per hectare.<br /><br />KKL( R) 2 is the first rice Puducherry rice variety that is recommended for release by Central Variety Release Committee (CVRC). Scientists also said that this rice variety is moderately resistant to pets including brown plant hopper, white-backed brown hopper, and blast and brown spot.<br /><br /><b>SEE ALSO:</b><br /><br /> <b><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/meta-planning-a-fresh-round-of-layoffs-in-year-of-efficiency-says-a-financial-times-report/articleshow/97802692.cms">Meta planning a fresh round of layoffs in 'year of efficiency', says FT report</a></b><br /><br /> <b><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/seventh-operation-dost-flight-reaches-earthquake-hit-syria-with-over-23-tons-of-relief-material/articleshow/97835516.cms">Seventh Operation Dost flight reaches earthquake-hit Syria with over 23 tons of relief material</a></b><br /><br /> <b><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/news/chatgpt-wrote-6-love-letters-as-the-bard-chandler-bing-an-srk-fan-more-heres-what-it-missed/articleshow/97823242.cms">ChatGPT wrote 6 love letters as the Bard, Chandler Bing, an SRK fan &amp; more – here’s what it missed</a></b><br />

Puducherry scientists develop flood-resistant rice variety

<ul><li>Food inflation was the major driver of June CPI which hit a three-month high.</li><li>Tomato price inflation was at 64%, onions at 8.1%, and potato at 10.5% on a sequential basis.</li><li>Retail prices of pulses reported double-digit growth for the third consecutive month.</li><li>On a sequential basis, wheat and rice inflation also picked pace in June. </li></ul>India’s <keyword id="513422" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="retail-inflation" source="Orion">retail inflation</keyword> is at a three-month high in June at 4.8%, but it may not have reached its peak yet. Many climate related factors have been playing havoc with food inflation, and with most of North India under floods and this will only add to the pinch on the pocket, economists have warned.<br /><br />“Nine states had inflation above the average while six had above 5% — UP, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Kerala, Bihar and Haryana. The recent floods and landslides in the North will tend to push up inflation further in these states on the food side — especially vegetables and fruits which can add another 0.2% to headline inflation,” said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda.<br /><br />Food inflation is a heavyweight in consumer price inflation (CPI), and drove it up in June, even as core inflation cooled as compared to the last month. <br /><br />“Food inflation was the major driver for higher headline inflation print; up by 218 basis points month-on-month versus 67 basis points in the last month due to a 12% hike in vegetables prices,” said a report by Phillip Capital.<br /><br /><strong>Price shock: Grains join tomatoes<br /></strong><br />Vegetable prices however are on top of everyone’s minds, and it could get worse as prices of tomatoes refuse to inch down. In June, its prices went up by 64%. But other key vegetables like onion were high too at 8.1%, and potato at 10.5% – on a sequential basis.<br /><br />A report by SBI Ecowrap says that the past 10 years data shows that tomato price increase alone did not influence the overall CPI inflation much — except when it is accompanied by substantial increase in price of potato and onion. <br /><br />“We believe if tomato price increase without any substantial change in potato and onion then average inflation in Q2 FY24 will come near 5.8% yoy but if the TOP (tomato, onion, potato) inflation increases, then CPI might come around 6% yoy in Q2 FY24. Accordingly, average CPI for FY24 will vary between 5.2-5.4%,” says SBI Ecowrap. <br /><br />Grains are not too far behind either. Cereal and pulses inflation remained elevated in June at 12.7% y-o-y and 10.5% y-o-y, respectively. Retail prices of pulses, especially that of tur dal, have risen 24% y-o-y in June, reporting double-digit growth for the third consecutive month. <br /><br />Moreover, the<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/india-sows-more-millets-and-less-rice-this-kharif-season/articleshow/101642365.cms"> sowing in rice and pulses is lower this Kharif season</a> due to delayed monsoons, and that doesn’t bode well for their prices which too are seeing upward pressure. <br /><br />“On a sequential basis, wheat and rice inflation also picked pace in June. Looking ahead, the sale of wheat and rice from the government’s buffer stock via Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) auctions could help cool retail prices of rice, wheat and atta. However, with regards to rice prices, deficient monsoons in West Bengal, a key rice-producing state, could impact sowing, putting upward pressure on prices,” said a report by CareEdge. <br /><br />Milk inflation moderated in June to 8.6% as compared to 8.9%. But it continues to remain sticky above 8%, reeling from the impact of a continued demand-supply mismatch and high fodder costs. <br /><br />“Milk prices could remain higher in the coming months, if unabating cereal inflation keeps cattle feed expensive,” CareEdge says. <br /><br /><strong>WPI is comforting, say experts <br /></strong><br />RBI insisted in the last two monetary policy committee meeting updates that its decision to hold key interest rates is a pause not a pivot. Most experts had been hoping that it would go for rate cuts in the second half of the year, but the inflation picture is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/with-inflation-cooling-rbi-may-slash-interest-rates-by-50-bps-this-financial-year/articleshow/100531780.cms">putting cold water on their hopes</a>. <br /><br />“While food prices will create inflationary pressures in the upcoming months due to uneven distribution of monsoon and lower kharif sowing, RBI stance would not be solely contingent on seasonal food inflation,” said Phillip Capital. <br /><br />Even at 4.8%, inflation is within the tolerance band of RBI, which is 4-6%. <br /><br />“The RBI will keep a keen eye here and it is almost given that nothing will change in the policy next month. More caution will be expressed on the inflation front,” said Sabnavis. <br /><br />CareEdge however says that wholesale price inflation (WPI) has been contracting and that is offering some comfort. India’s WPI has been in a deflationary zone for the second month in a row in May, as prices contracted by 3.48%.<br /><br />“Deflation in WPI will have a lagged impact on CPI inflation going forward. Having said that, RBI would remain cautious and adopt a wait and watch mode. We reaffirm our view that RBI would maintain an extended pause in 2023,” said CareEdge.<br />

Inflation to inch higher still? Incessant rains will add to woes, warn economists

Best electric rice cooker in India in 2023

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A second year of flooding is threatening to ruin another year of crop harvests for farmers in the <keyword id="99644" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mississippi">Mississippi</keyword> River Delta, one of the poorest regions in the US.</li><li>With the coronavirus already ravaging the region, farmers are now facing a second year without profits.</li><li>Some farmers are urging the government to install water-clearing pumps in the Delta — a long-promised project that was scrapped in 2008.</li><li>Farmers and local businesses say falling crop prices and low yields are adding to a pile of slow-moving crises.</li></ul><p>The southern <keyword id="598407" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mississippi-Delta">Mississippi Delta</keyword> is home to some of the most fertile farmland in the United States.</p><p>But not a single crop of soybeans, cotton, corn, or rice has been planted at many farms in the region — <a href="https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2017/08/07/mississippi-delta-poverty/544601001/#:~:text=Although%20opportunities%20have%20improved%20in,it's%2030%20to%2040%20percent.">one of the poorest in the country</a>.</p><p>For the second year in a row, widespread flooding has left hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland underwater, ruining entire harvests. And now, with their fields submerged, farmers are bracing for another year of no income.</p><p>For farmers in the Delta, it's a worst-case scenario playing out in real time.</p><p>"We had hopes that this year we would be able to get back to normal. Mother Nature had other plans," Victoria Darden, a farmer in Onward, Mississippi, said.</p><p><keyword id="9071581" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="business-insider-weekly">Business Insider Weekly</keyword> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BusinessInsiderToday/videos/362839907732912/">visited Darden's farm in 2019</a>, and revisited in the spring to see how the region is coping with a second year of destruction.</p><h2>Flooding last year caused 12 deaths and $20 billion of damage.</h2><p><div type="image" title="Floods Still 150" height="1080" width="1920" msid="77223351" hostid="261"></div></p><p>The sight of submerged farmland has become depressingly routine since February of 2019, when heavy rains began swelling in the Mississippi River. The south Delta was hit especially hard — by May of that year, 548,000 acres were underwater, an area almost three times the size of New York City. The flooding <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/02/17/mississippi-flooding-swamps-southern-us/4784911002/">caused 12 deaths</a> and an estimated $20 billion in damages.</p><p>While the waters in some areas had receded by August, that wasn't the case for Victoria Darden and her father Randy — as much as 80% of their L&amp;R Farm were still underwater by May of this year. </p><p>"We're still just sitting here hoping and praying that we are able to get the water out of here and able to get a crop in, but we really just don't know," Victoria Darden said.</p><p>Flooding damage has cost each affected household an average of $42,000 through the end of last December, according to economists at Mississippi State University. Those losses are not expected to be covered by insurance or assistance programs, and they have continued to mount this year.</p><p>In a typical year, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mississippi-flood-devastates-farmers-photos-video-2019-7">Randy Darden told Business Insider Weekly</a>, his farm would produce $600,000 worth of crops. This year, the Valley Park Elevator, who the Dardens use as a distributor, is warning farmers might see returns of pennies on the dollar for their yields.</p><p>"If we get a crop in, the prices are very low now. And cost of production, it doesn't even pencil out to be a good break-even point," manager David Wansley said.</p><p>And there's much uncertainty even for farmers in the area who were able to plant. The current weak economy and low prices could leave crops to rot, and farmers with no profit at all. A similar scene is playing out throughout the country as farmers, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/farmers-deal-with-glut-of-food-as-coronavirus-closes-restaurants-11586439722">including ones in Mississippi</a>, are having to dump milk and smash eggs because of a decrease in demand.</p><p>"Corn's lower than it's been in decades. Same with soybeans and cotton," said Mackenzie Parker, loan manager of the <a href="https://www.bankofanguilla.com/quick-connects/about-us">Bank of Anguilla</a>, which serves the south Delta region. "So if we do get something planted, the concern is, you know, what are we going to get for it?" </p><h2>The government has been slow to respond, leaving farmers to fend for themselves.</h2><p><div type="image" title="Floods Still 360" height="1080" width="1920" msid="77223353" hostid="261"></div></p><p>The last time the region experienced devastation so severe was what the <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2001/05/mississippi-river-flood-culture/">Great Flood of 1927</a>, which left 27,000 acres of land under 30 feet of water. </p><p>As a response, the federal government began work on the <a href="https://www.msleveeboard.com/index.php/projects/current-projects/yazoo-backwater-project">Yazoo Backwater Project</a>, building an extensive network of levees, dams, and waterways to control future rains. </p><p>This time around, though, the levees and dams haven't been enough to stop the backwater. And the last unfinished component of the Yazoo Backwater Project — the installation of flood-control pumps — was scrapped in 2008, forcing farmers like Darden to pump water off their property with whatever equipment they have on hand.</p><p>With her fields underwater, Victoria Darden has spent the past year advocating for flood-control pumps.</p><p>She traveled to Florida to present her case to the EPA, arguing that the flooding has killed hundreds of deer and other native species. After months, she helped convince local environmental and conservation groups to support the project.</p><p>The EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers are currently <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mississippi-residents-flooded-out-four-months-say-epa-could-save-n1014856">reconsidering the pumping stations</a>, though if they're approved, they could still take years to complete.</p><h2>The coronavirus is adding to the Delta's struggles.</h2><p><div type="image" title="Floods Still 110" height="1080" width="1920" msid="77223355" hostid="261"></div></p><p>Meanwhile, residents of the Delta are grappling with another crisis: the coronavirus. Mississippi is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/mississippi-coronavirus-cases.html#cases">one of the biggest pandemic hotspots</a> in the US, reporting more than 1,000 new cases of the virus each day for the past week. The outbreak is threatening the livelihoods of other workers in the region.</p><p>Even before the coronavirus forced businesses to close down, Tracy Harden, the owner of Chuck's Dairy Bar in Rolling Fork, was already burning through her savings to stay open throughout the yearlong floods. Suddenly, her typical stream of customers evaporated.</p><p>"You'd have farmers coming in and picking up 20 lunches. And when that went down to one lunch a day instead of 20 a day, it really affects your bottom line," she told Business Insider Weekly.</p><p>"I was talking with one the other day that told me, you know, if we don't get to plant this year, this is it for us. There's no coming back from this again. That's heartbreaking," she said. "For my little town, it just seems like one thing after another. We could really use a break."</p><h2>The uncertainty is weighing heavily on farmers.</h2><p><div type="image" title="Floods Still 260" height="1080" width="1920" msid="77223357" hostid="261"></div></p><p>Things started looking up for Victoria and Randy in May, when they began to coax soybean plants out of a couple hundred acres that had dried out. And in June, much of the floodwaters finally receded. Now, most of their land is dry, and they have been able to plant all but 20% of their crops. </p><p>But the uncertainty of the past two years is weighing heavily on them.</p><p>"When it rains, we all still get very nervous," Victoria Darden said. "It's like flashbacks, because we still don't have a solution to prevent this from happening. It can still happen. It could happen with this crop out here. It's very possible."</p><p>The Dardens still don't know if the water caused any long-term damage to their soil. And they still fear for the future of their family farm. </p><p>"How do you go from having a job you do everyday for your whole life and suddenly you can't do that? What do you do with your spare time? How do you get through the day?" Victoria Darden said.</p><p>"Before I had this whole thing figured out. It's not figured out."</p>

A second straight year of flooding is threatening another year of crops for Mississippi farmers

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Channel News Asia/YouTube</span></p><p class="caption">The Thai soccer team's 25-year-old coach, Ekapol Chanthawong.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>The Thai soccer team that was trapped inside an underground cave for 17 days have explained why they entered the cave and how they managed to survive for so long.</strong></li><li><strong>The team did not prepare supplies in advance for their cave exploration, and were soon trapped inside the cave's winding chambers due to rising flood waters.</strong></li><li><strong>While waiting to be freed, the boys survived on just cave water and tried not to think about their favorite food in order to survive.</strong></li></ul><p><br />The Thai soccer team that was trapped inside a flooded cave complex for 17 days have explained why they entered the cave and how they managed to survive for so long.</p><p>The team decided to enter the cave after their soccer practice on June 23, 25-year-old coach Ekapol Chanthawong told reporters on Wednesday.</p><p>Ekapol added that many of the boys had been inside the cave before, and that they had discussed going into the cave prior to their practice.</p><p>Water levels inside the cave appeared to be normal when they first went in, and they had only planned to remain inside for one hour anyway, he said.</p><p>Because the team had only planned to remain inside for one hour, they did not prepare supplies in advance for their cave exploration, and were soon trapped inside the cave's winding chambers due to rising flood waters. They had no food because they had eaten before practice.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Skye Gould/Business Insider</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>Drinking from stalactites</h2><p>As rain caused waters inside the cave to swell, the boys sought higher ground and went deeper into the cave, Ekapol said on Wednesday.</p><p>The boys initially thought they could exit from another part of the cave. But after unsuccessfully attempting to find another way out, they decided to stay overnight and wait until water levels inside the cave receded.</p><p>They later settled on an area which featured dripping stalactites which they used as a source of drinking water.</p><p>But water levels did not recede and they decided to try and dig their way out while waiting for rescue teams to come and find them, Ekapol said.</p><p>Without food, and surviving on just cave water, the boys took turns <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/thai-soccer-team-tried-to-dig-out-of-tham-luang-cave-despite-no-food-2018-7">eventually digging a 16-foot hole into the cave wall</a>.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Stringer</span></p><p class="caption">The team relied on dripping stalactites in the cave as their water source.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>"We tried not to think of food, like fried rice"</h2><p>The boys were <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/thai-soccer-coach-taught-team-to-meditate-to-stay-calm-in-cave-2018-7">taught how to meditate to conserve energy</a>, and many avoided thinking about food in order to stave off hunger.</p><p>11-year-old Chanin Vibulrungruang, the youngest team member, told reporters: "We felt dizzy and hungry while we were trapped in the cave complex. We tried not to think of food, like fried rice, because it would make us hungrier."</p><p><span style="color: #222222;">Coach Ekapol added that he felt confident that they would be discovered by authorities, and they remained in place. He encouraged the boys not to be worried or scared.</span></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun</span></p><p class="caption">The Wild Boars soccer team recount their experience in the caves on Wednesday.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>Boys who lived furthest away left first so they could 'ride their bikes' home</h2><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/thailand-soccer-team-cave-video-navy-seals-2018-7">British divers eventually found the boys</a> after a nine-day search effort. The boys, their coach, international rescue divers, and Thai Navy SEALs collectively decided who should be rescued from the caves first.</p><div data-bi-ad="" id="ad-55610" data-force="" data-type="ad" data-adunit="business-insider/desktop/politics/defense/post" data-pagetype="post" data-tag="thai-soccer-team,thai-cave-rescue,thailand,thai-cave" data-pos="atf" data-authors="rosie-perper" data-views="" data-region="Desktop In Post Ad" data-responsive="[{" browserLimit:00slotSize:300250fluidbrowserLimit:6000slotSize:300250fluidbrowserLimit:12600slotSize:72890fluidlocation:inline="" data-url="thai-soccer-team-cave-rescue-press-conference-photos-live-2018-7" data-amazontamsizes="[[300,250],[728,90]]" data-google-query-id="CJzPxpfgqNwCFU4OKgodhyQH_g"><div id="google_ads_iframe_/4442842/business-insider/desktop/politics/defense/post_6__container__"><span style="color: #222222;">Chanthawong said he asked the boys to "raise their hands" if they wanted to leave the cave first, and many were happy to stay back with the Thai Navy SEALs, with whom they had developed a close bond.</span></div></div><p>Eventually, it was the boys that lived the furthest away that were chosen to leave the cave first so they could "ride their bikes" and tell concerned families and authorities that they were okay and to prepare food.</p><p>The boys were rescued over a three-day mission, with a team of divers taking the boys out through the treacherous hours-long journey in groups of four or five. The last batch were extracted last Monday.</p><p><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/how-thai-soccer-team-were-rescued-out-of-tham-luang-cave-diagram-2018-7">Boys wore full-face masks and were attached to divers on either end</a>, who guided them through the cave's winding chambers.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-thai-soccer-team-were-rescued-out-of-tham-luang-cave-diagram-2018-7">Samantha Lee/Business Insider</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>"Ready to go home, both mentally and physically"</h2><p>After being extracted from the cave, the boys were taken to the hospital, where they <a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/thai-cave-what-hospital-is-like-for-rescued-boys-with-porridge-and-no-tv-2018-7">recovered in quarantine for a week eating soft, bland foods</a>.</p><p>Doctors on Wednesday said the boys were "emotionally and physically" strong and are ready to return to "normal life."</p><p>"We had experts look at them and checked their blood for diseases," doctors told reporters. "I can confirm they are ready to go home, both mentally and physically.</p><p>"They've been ready to go home since they were in the cave," the doctors said.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Thailand-Cave/0637211d51f7479d80a13290563d5122/5/0">Thailand Government Spokesman Bureau via AP</a></span></p><p class="caption">Three members of the team pictured in hospital.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Psychiatrists said they want the boys to "lead a normal life as soon as possible," and not be given special treatment as they continue to recover.</p><p>"We ask everyone to give them personal space and time to be with their families and go to school," they said.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/14-year-old-is-bossing-social-media-with-his-cakes-ryan-wilson-2018-6">This 14-year-old boy is bossing social media with his colorful cakes</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Drinking cave water and not thinking about fried rice: Here's how the Thai soccer team survived 9 days in a flooded cave with no food or drink

<ul><li><strong>The erratic monsoon along with water crisis and floods across the country has hit the Kharif crops badly. <br /></strong></li><li><strong>According to the IMD forecast, India is going to receive below normal rainfall this year. <br /></strong></li><li><strong>The affected crops would be rice, food grains, oilseeds, and pulses, as their plantation are significantly low.</strong></li></ul>This year, the monsoons were thought to be too little, too late. It might not be too little as the monsoon could be termed normal in August, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/news/bill-to-make-india-arbitration-hub-get-parliamentary-nod/articleshow/70491513.cms">expects </a>The India Meteorological Department. <br /><br />Yet, the damage is already done. <br /><br />The erratic monsoon along with water crisis and floods across the country, has hit the Kharif crops badly. <br /><br />According to the IMD forecast, India is going to receive below than normal rainfall this year. In fact, the monsoon started with a delay of a week. However, it was above 4.6% normal in July. Most parts received more than 42% rainfall than normal in the last seven days of July. <br /><br />The affected crops would be rice, food grains, oilseeds, and pulses, as their plantation are significantly low. Farmers could sow only around 304 lakh hectares of total foodgrains up to 19 July. This is 57 lakh hectare lower than the corresponding week. As of now, India is staring at high food inflation. <br /><br />“The retail inflation in the food components for June 2019 has risen to 13-months high and weak progress going ahead could push food inflation higher. Also, wholesale food inflation (YoY) for June 2019 continues to remain high at close to 7%,” according to Credit Rating Agency, CARE.<br /><br />But there are a few chances of a turnaround. The southwest monsoon, which is below last year's average, has started picking up. Farmers are now staring eagerly at the skies to plant their kharif crops albeit late, if there is a good spell of rain. <br /><br />Monsoon is a key driver of agriculture in India, as it depends on it for water needs. India's monsoon accounts for 70% of the annual rainfall. This year, the rains were 19% lower than the average rainfall of 384.7 mm during the same period last year. <br /><br />The government is doing its part to support farmers. It is increasing the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for notified Kharif crops. <br /><br /><strong>Pulsating effect </strong><br /><br />The possibility of increased food inflation couldn’t have come at a bad time. Last week, the wholesale prices of pulses have gone up by 4-5%. The retail market will remain unaffected so far.<br /><br />The Food Ministry has created a buffer stock of 'arhar' ('tur' or pigeon pea) of 14 lakh tonnes. While the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) has stored 20 lakh tonnes, which is a key part of India’s ‘square meals’.<br /><br />The government also increased the minimum support price of Tur dal by Rs 125 to Rs 5,800 per quintal in the first week of July. Similarly, the guaranteed remuneration for 'moong' and 'urad' was hiked also hiked by ₹75 to Rs 7,050 per quintal and by Rs 100 to Rs 5,700 per quintal, respectively.<br /><br />See also: <br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-monsoon-rains-seen-below-normal-this-year-skymet-2019-4?IR=T">India monsoon rains seen below normal this year: Skymet</a><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/indias-monsoon-rains-35-below-average-this-week-weather-office-2019-7?IR=T">India's monsoon rains 35% below average this week - weather office</a><br />

Here is how slow monsoons might make your daal and roti costly

<br /><ul><li><strong>Total rainfall in India came in at 91% of the 50-year average between June to September, according to the Indian Meteorological Department, as opposed to predictions of 97%.<br /></strong></li><li><strong>This was largely due to the fact that the northeastern parts of India, which usually receive higher rainfall than the rest of the country, experienced a shortage in rainfall.<br /></strong></li><li><strong>However, despite the weak <keyword id="6358301" type="DEFINITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="monsoon">monsoon</keyword>, India’s crop production this kharif season is expected to reach a record level of 141.6 million tonnes.<br /><br /></strong></li></ul>India’s rainfall this monsoon season fell short of forecasts for the second consecutive year, according to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). Total rains came in at 91% of the 50-year average between June to September, as opposed to predictions of 97%. <br /><br />This was largely due to the fact that the northeastern parts of India, which usually receive higher rainfall than the rest of the country, experienced a shortage in rainfall. Infact, 69% of the country received a normal or excessive rainfall this monsoon season, with the flood-ravaged <keyword id="28504" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kerala">Kerala</keyword> receiving 23% higher rainfall than normal. Gujarat had an uncharacteristically dry season, receiving 24% less rain than normal, while UP and Bihar had the most rain-deficient districts. <br /><br />It bears mentioning that the 97% forecast for this year was reaffirmed despite a dry spell in the first half of the season. A normal monsoon involves rainfall in the range of 96%-104% of the 50-year or long-term average. A drought season occurs when rainfall is 90% of the long-term average or less. <br /><br /><strong>A record <keyword id="6417335" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="harvest">harvest</keyword></strong><br /><br />The June-September period is particularly crucial for India’s agriculture industry as this season provides 70% of the country’s annual precipitation. However, despite the weak monsoon, India’s crop production this kharif season is expected to reach record levels.<br /><br />As per government forecasts, production of summer <keyword id="18620" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="crops">crops</keyword> should reach 141.6 million tonnes in 2018-19, a slight jump from last year’s record bounty of 140.7 million tonnes, owing to a 2% jump in the output of <keyword id="13726" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="rice">rice</keyword> to nearly 100 million tonnes - which bodes well for exports. This is even more significant as there has been a slight shrinkage in the total acreage occupied by kharif crops this year. <br /><br />The record harvest this year is largely due to the fact that farmers are prioritising crops that don’t require excessive rainfall. They’re choosing crops based on the existing moisture level in the soil, thereby making their harvest less dependent on the monsoon. According to research by the IMD, soil moisture was found to be adequate in most districts that received a rainfall of 20% less than the average. In addition, farmers are also planting crops that will fetch them better prices - for example, choosing soybeans over pulses - and factoring the monsoon less in their decisions. <br /><br /><strong>A double-edged sword</strong><br /><br />However, despite the obvious cause for celebration, a record harvest can prove to be a drag on farmer incomes. A high level of food grain production translates into lower prices - which is great for households - but hurts farmers. If wholesale prices remain below the government’s minimum support prices, then it will have to step in and procure more grains from farmers than budgeted. <br />

Despite a second consecutive deficient monsoon, India is poised for a record harvest

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.gettyimages.com/license/71244158">Getty Images / Guang Niu</a></span></p><p class="caption">Yuan Longping is known as the 'father of hybrid rice' in China.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>Scientists in China have developed more than 200 new strains of high-yield, saltwater-tolerant rice.</strong></li><li><strong>The research team hopes the crops will eventually be grown in boggy swamps and coastal areas, and feed as many as 200 million people.</strong></li><li><strong>Recent tests were conducted in diluted salt water that has roughly 10% of the level of salt naturally found in sea water. </strong><strong><br /></strong></li></ul><p><br />Yuan Longping, an 87-year-old Chinese scientist, has spent his life working to feed a world <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gmo-rice-could-feed-half-the-world-2015-7">hungry for rice</a>. Now he's wading into saltier territory.</p><p>Longping is developing a new high-yield strain of rice that can grow in saltwater paddies.</p><p>The traditional process of cultivating rice requires a field to be flooded with a supply of fresh water. Only a fraction of China's total land area can be farmed this way, since much of the soil has salt in it from coastal flooding and tides. In the region of Dongying on China's eastern coast, for example, nearly 40% of the land now has salt content above .5%, according to the <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/video/2017/07/26/dongying-china-growing-forests-in-saline-soil">World Bank</a>. (China nonetheless produces more rice than any other country, however.) </p><p>Growing rice in swamps, bogs, and clay-like or salty coastal waters, which comprise about a third of the total arable land in China, has typically been impossible because salt stresses the plants. That makes photosynthesis and respiration a challenge for the stalks, causing them to stop growing and die. An increasing amount of land is expected to face this problem as <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-water-will-come-jeff-goodell-sea-level-rise-2017-10">sea levels rise</a>.</p><p>If Chinese farmers can start planting rice in the vast salty swaths of their country, however, that could dramatically increase the country's food supply.</p><p><span>Longping's</span> first test results look promising: A crop of 200 different saltwater-tolerant strains of rice that his research group grew this year yielded up to 8,030 pounds of rice per acre, according to <a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-09/28/c_136646404.htm">China's Xinhua News Agency</a>.</p><p>That's more rice than <a href="http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/current/CropProdSu/CropProdSu-01-12-2017.pdf">most commercial US growers harvest</a> in their yields (which usually range between 7,200-7,600 pounds per acre.)</p><p>Growing rice in saltwater would also free up stretches of soil that's currently devoted to rice for other crops. Chinese diets are changing as more affluent consumers <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/china-alarming-food-problem-2017-6?r=UK&amp;IR=T">demand more meat</a> and fewer grains, but space to raise livestock and vegetables is limited, since so much of China's arable land is reserved for rice. </p><p>"That could, of course, have a huge impact on the overall food security and supply in China," Ren Wang, assistant director general for agriculture at the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization, told Business Insider.</p><p>Longping's initial success came just as the 2017 <a href="http://www.fao.org/economic/est/publications/rice-publications/rice-market-monitor-rmm/en/">global rice production forecast</a> has taken a downturn. South Korea and Sri Lanka are suffering from "abnormal dryness," according to the UN FAO, while <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-worst-floods-to-hit-south-asia-in-decade-expose-lack-of-monsoon-planning-2017-9">Bangladesh</a> recently experienced some of the worst flooding to hit South Asia in a decade. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/king-cobra-drinks-bottled-water-indian-india-drought-heat-thirsty-2017-3?r=UK&amp;IR=T">India</a> and Nepal were hit by both floods and droughts this year, so are also expecting rice prices to tick up.</p><p><span>But although Longping's</span> experimental planting, which was conducted at the <span>Qingdao Saline-Alkali Tolerant Rice Research and Development Center </span>on the Yellow Sea, showed the rice was able to grow in sea-like water, the salt concentration was diluted.</p><p>"It's still only maybe 10% the level of salt in sea water," Wang said, cautioning that the rice is still "quite far" from any practical application for farmers.</p><p>The Chinese research team behind the new strain hopes that in three to five years, they'll be able to produce enough of the saltwater-powered grain to feed 200 million Chinese people, and possibly hundreds of millions more around the world. Wang says the technique could also be adopted in other areas, including Bangladesh, Vietnam and parts of Africa. </p><p>The goal sounds lofty, but Longping knows a thing or two about how to grow new kinds of rice. The Chinese researcher won the 2004 World Food Prize for his work on some of the first high-yield hybrid rice varieties that were developed in the 1970s, which helped shift his country from food deficient to food secure. </p><p>Rice has been a staple crop for more than 7,000 years, and today, <a href="https://unchronicle.un.org/article/united-nations-must-manage-global-food-reserve">more than half of the world's population</a> relies on the fingernail-sized grain for sustenance, according to the United Nations. High-yield varieties like those Longping has developed feed more mouths than traditional techniques, but are also more <a href="https://unchronicle.un.org/article/united-nations-must-manage-global-food-reserve">energy-intensive</a> and require more non-organic fertilizer.</p><p>With the saltwater technique, rice growers are hoping to cut back on energy use. One successful strain, called Green Super Rice, has been shown to grow in salty water and is already being cultivated with some success in the Philippines. It's more <a href="https://greensuperrice.blogspot.com/">environmentally friendly</a> than typical high-yield rice, and it fetches a higher price due to its high-quality, reddish grains, according to the <a href="http://ricetoday.irri.org/rice-against-the-tide/">International Rice Research Institute</a>.</p><p>In addition to increasing the total volume of rice that can be produced, rice grown in saltwater may offer health benefits, since there's more calcium and other micronutrients in alkaline waters. </p><p>But the scientists will have to make sure that consumers actually want to eat this new rice.</p><p>The saltwater-tolerant strains in China were developed with crosses from wild rice relatives, and Wang says he hasn't found any detailed report on the rice quality. That makes him skeptical about how the new breeds taste.</p><p>"I personally would imagine there's still a long way to go," he said.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/pork-like-fruit-nutrients-starvation-2016-5">This pork-tasting fruit could save millions from starvation</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

An 87-year-old scientist may have just unlocked the secret to growing rice in saltwater

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Royal Thai Navy Facebook Page via AP</span></p><p class="caption">The Wild Boar soccer team was trapped in a flooded cave for 17 days. They are set to sign a deal with Netflix to make a mini-series about their experience.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/category/thai-soccer-team">A Thai soccer team</a> that gripped the world when it got trapped in a cave for 17 days last summer is set to sign a deal with Netflix.</strong></li><li><strong>Netflix confirmed to Business Insider that it is working on a "original scripted mini-series" about the rescue.</strong></li><li><strong>The 12 boys and their coach were trapped in a flooded, complex cave system as oxygen levels dwindled last June and July.</strong></li><li><strong>A Navy SEAL was killed during the daring rescue that ultimately saw all of the boys safely recovered.</strong></li></ul><p>The Thai soccer team that spent 17 days trapped in a flooded cave before a daring and successful rescue mission look set to sign a deal with Netflix about their ordeal.</p><p>Netflix confirmed to Business Insider that it is working on an "original scripted mini-series" about the Thai cave rescue.</p><p>Netflix is working with 13 Tham Luang Company Limited, the company that manages the rescued football team, and SK Global Entertainment, the production company behind "Crazy Rich Asians."</p><p><a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/08/asia/thailand-cave-boys-netflix-intl/index.html">CNN reported</a> that parties had agreed to the terms, but a contract has not yet been signed.</p><p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/thai-cave-rescue-timeline-how-it-unfolded-2018-7" data-analytics-position="3">This timeline shows exactly how the Thai cave rescue unfolded</a></em></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ThaiSEAL/videos/1631228493667210/">Thai Navy SEALs/Facebook</a></span></p><p class="caption">The trapped soccer team shortly after rescuers reached them in a flooded cave system.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The rescue of the 12 boys and their coach captured global attention after they were left trapped in the Tham Luang cave complex in northern Thailand without food and water last summer.</p><p>They faced a ticking clock as flood waters rose and oxygen in the cave dwindled, before they were saved by a dramatic international rescue effort.</p><p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/thailand-cave-photos-show-scale-complexity-of-soccer-team-rescue-mission-2018-7" data-analytics-position="15">These photos show the scale and complexity of the efforts to rescue the Thai soccer team stuck in a flooded cave</a></em></p><p>The boys have spoken publicly about their ordeal since, including <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/thai-boys-soccer-team-first-in-studio-interview-ellen-2018-10">during an appearance on "Ellen."</a></p><p>However, <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/netflix-produce-series-thai-cave-rescue-1193241">The Hollywood Reporter</a> reported that the Netflix deal would restrict them from giving future interviews about their experience.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Tham Luang Rescue Operation Center via AP</span></p><p class="caption">Thai rescue teams walk inside cave complex where 12 boys and their soccer coach went missing.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>The dramatic cave rescue</h2><p>The Wild Boars soccer team went to Tham Luang on June 23 apparently to perform some sort of initiation ceremony when the cave flooded because of the monsoon, blocking their way out.</p><p>Their families had to wait nine days, until July 2, for signs of life, when divers found the team huddled at the edge of floodwaters two-and-a-half miles from the cave entrance.</p><p>Divers reassured the team that help was coming, but the cave's passages were so narrow and flooded that rescuers had to withdraw repeatedly for safety reasons.</p><p>The boys did not now how to swim, and the monsoon season was due to last for months. A former Thai Navy SEAL working to rescue the team <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/former-navy-seal-rescuing-thai-soccer-team-trapped-in-cave-dies-2018-7?r=US&amp;IR=T">died from a lack of oxygen on July 5</a>.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Shayanne Gal/Business Insider</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Countries including Australia, Britain, China, Israel, and the US provided resources and helped out with rescue efforts and oxygen levels in the cave fell, and experts worried that the boys were not well enough to be moved from the cave.</p><p>But the boys were successfully rescued from the cave between July 8 and July 10, accompanied by divers through dark and tight passageways filled with muddy water and strong currents. They were brought to hospital, where they recovered.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Linh Pham/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Cave divers walk out of the Tham Luang cave complex in full kit during rescue efforts.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more about the Thai cave rescue:</li></ul><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/thai-boys-soccer-team-first-in-studio-interview-ellen-2018-10">The Thai Wild Boars soccer team went on 'Ellen' and described how they survived for days on end in a cave - and revealed when they first realized they were trapped</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/thai-boys-soccer-team-coach-interview-cave-rescue-2018-8" data-analytics-position="1">Thai boys soccer team and their coach speak out 2 months after they got stuck in flooded cave</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/thai-cave-rescue-citizenship-for-stateless-soccer-team-boys-2018-7" data-analytics-position="3">Thailand is considering giving citizenship to four stateless members of the Thai soccer team who were trapped in a cave</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/thai-cave-rescue-why-soccer-team-went-into-cave-how-they-survived-2018-7" data-analytics-position="5">Drinking cave water and not thinking about fried rice: Here's how the Thai soccer team survived 9 days in a flooded cave with no food or drink</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/thai-cave-rescue-captivated-the-world-why-media-circus-2018-7" data-analytics-position="4">Why the Thai cave rescue captivated the world</a></p><div data-bi-post-id="5b4bf743744a9822008b4b76"><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/thai-cave-rescue-international-divers-given-diplomatic-immunity-2018-7" data-analytics-position="10">International divers that helped the Thai cave rescue were given diplomatic immunity in case something went wrong</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/divers-in-thai-cave-rescue-say-bravest-boys-likely-first-out-of-cave-2018-7" data-analytics-position="8"></a></p></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pokemon-detective-pikachu-trailer-easter-eggs-mewtwo-ryan-reynolds-2019-2">Pokémon are hidden throughout the new 'Detective Pikachu' trailer. See if you can catch them all.</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

The Thai soccer team that spent 17 days trapped in a flooded cave are set to sign a deal with Netflix about their dramatic rescue

<p><em><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://pictures.reuters.com/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResult_VPage&amp;VBID=2C0BXZO50A476&amp;SMLS=1&amp;RW=1247&amp;RH=962">Beawiharta/Reuters</a></span></p></div><p></p></div>Technological breakthroughs in rice will boost harvests and cut poverty. They deserve support.</em></p>
<p>When, in 1961, the government of India asked a celebrated wheat breeder, Norman Borlaug, for advice about new seeds, the subcontinent was thought to be on the verge of starvation. China actually was suffering from famine. Borlaug persuaded India to plant a new semi-dwarf variety of wheat in Punjab.</p>
<p>The next year, the country also tried out a dwarf variety of rice called IR8. These short-stemmed crops solved a basic problem: old-fashioned crops were long and leggy, so when fed with fertiliser they grew too tall and fell over. Borlaug's varieties put out more, heavier seeds instead. They caught on like smartphones. Over the next 40 years the green revolution spread round the world, helping ensure that, where its seeds were planted, famines became things of the past.</p>
<p>Now a second green revolution is stirring in the fields of Asia. It will not be the same as the first one, since it will depend not on a few miracle varieties but on tailoring existing seeds to different environments. But it promises to bring similar benefits--this time to the poor lands and poorer farmers that the first version passed by (see pages 21-23).</p>
<p>Such lands are poor because they are prone to floods, drought and salinity. New seeds have been developed which can survive flooding, and soon there will be varieties that tolerate drought, extreme heat and saltiness, too, making the poorest lands fertile. So the second revolution could do even more to cut poverty than the first.</p>
<p>This revolution is all the more vital because the gains of the first are plateauing. Annual yield growth has fallen to less than a third what it was in the green revolution and below the current rise in population. Meanwhile demand for rice is rising by almost 2% a year in Asia and soaring by 20% a year in Africa.</p>
<p>The gap threatens to widen, because rice is exceptionally vulnerable to environmental change. Rice farmers use almost a third of Earth's fresh water, and water shortages are pervasive. The world's rice bowls are the deltas of Asia's great rivers. These are subject to changing floods, rising salinity and growing heat stress. (Climate change is sometimes seen as a new problem to worry about now that the issue of providing food is settled. In reality it is a threat to future food supplies.)</p>
<p>A second revolution has been made possible by the sequencing of the rice genome in 2005 (the first cereal crop to be sequenced). This enabled breeders to discover the genes for flood resistance in one obscure variety from eastern India and transfer them to varieties all round the world. Breeders will soon do the same for genes that provide other valuable traits.</p>
<p>There are all sorts of things that governments could do to push this revolution forward, such as getting rid of price subsidies and letting farms consolidate into bigger, more efficient units. But they will also need to spend public money directly on research.</p>
<h3>One grain at a time</h3>
<p>The first green revolution was largely government-backed, with help from international research centres and American charities. You might think that nowadays the big agribusinesses would be desperate to lead the way, and they have indeed invested heavily in new strains of maize and wheat.</p>
<p>But rice, the focus of the second revolution, is different. Farmers can keep the seeds from one harvest and plant them in the next with no loss of yield (unlike maize). The market for rice seeds is thus tiny, so almost all research is carried out by the state.</p>
<p>The amounts needed are small. By one calculation, $3 billion of rice research spread over the next 25 years would pull 150m people out of extreme poverty. That is $20 a person, a bargain compared with any other anti-poverty programme. And it has worked before. The cumulative economic benefits from public research into rice are running at almost $20 billion a year, hundreds of times the cost of the investment.</p>
<p>Governments, though, are nervous. Some politicians worry about publicly backing genetic research, despite all the lives it could save (the latest Luddism is in Vermont--see page 41). Other health ministries have moved on to sexier causes, like fighting obesity. They should think again. It is hard to think of a way to improve more people's lives for less money.</p>
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How Better Rice Could Save Millions Of Lives

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://pictures.reuters.com/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&amp;VBID=2C0BXZ3JPQ6_U&amp;SMLS=1&amp;RW=1277&amp;RH=906&amp;PN=6&amp;POPUPPN=343&amp;POPUPIID=2C0408WEBRO1B">Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha</a></span></p><p class="caption">A migrant worker unloads sacks of rice from a barged to a cargo ship on The Chao Phraya River in Bangkok.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Back in 2011, Thailand was the world's largest exporter of rice, accounting for about 30% of the global market.</p><p>Then, prime minister Yingluck <span>Shinawatra introduced a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/thailands-giant-pile-of-rice-threatens-to-flood-global-markets-2012-10">controversial rice scheme</a> where the government would pay farmers almost 50% more than market prices. </span></p><p><span>The idea was that the since almost 40% of Thailand's labor force worked in agriculture, it would make the average Thai wealthier while also <a href="http://thediplomat.com/2015/05/the-rice-and-fall-of-yingluck-shinawatra/">creating a rice shortage</a> by taking supply off of the market. In theory, the government would then be able to sell the rice at an even higher price. </span></p><p><span>However, prices didn't rise as much as the Thai government was anticipating, and then <a href="http://world.time.com/2013/07/12/how-thailands-botched-rice-scheme-blew-a-big-hole-in-its-economy/">competitors (India and Vietnam)</a> began to flood the market and lower their prices. That left Thailand with a ballooning inventory of rice and warehouses filled to their brims. </span></p><p><span>Fast forward to 2016, and Yingluck has been out of office for two years after being removed by a military coup. Thailand is now the <a href="http://www.worldstopexports.com/rice-exports-country/">number two rice exporter in the world</a>, trailing rival India, and its rice stockpile is still enormous. </span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Deutsche Bank</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>However, there might finally be some relief in sight. The El Niño of 2015/2016 has caused <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/extreme-drought-problematic-for-thailand-2016-1">drought conditions</a> across much of China, India, and Southeast Asia. And while <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-thailand-plans-steps-worth-285-million-to-help-drought-hit-rice-farmers-2016-2">farmers in Thailand</a> and elsewhere in the region are being devastated by the weather, the Thai government has an opportunity to unload a good portion of its stockpile. Here's Deutsche Bank (emphasis ours):</span></p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span>According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), <strong>Thailand's rice inventory is set to drop by almost 50% to 5.2mn MT in 2016</strong> on the back of a projected decline in domestic output to a five-year low of 15.8mn MT. </span></p><p><span>And the good news doesn't stop there. </span></p><p><span>Deutsche Bank says (emphasis ours)"</span></p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">It is highly plausible, in our view, that Thailand would take this El Nin~o episode as an opportunity to clear its huge stockpile and <strong>regain market share</strong> as shipments of rival exporters will likely be curbed by reduced domestic output.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/global-economy-biggest-threat-2016-4">FORMER GREEK FINANCE MINISTER: The single largest threat to the global economy</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="4wNWo1MzE6mCXkk1XHZUEjn1PYYwkNot" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

A crazy decision led Thailand to stockpile tons of rice, but everything could be about to change

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Ousted former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra greets in a traditional way as she arrives at Parliament before the National Legislative Assembly meeting in Bangkok</p></div><p></p></div></div>Thailand's military junta has <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-21/thai-junta-fines-former-pm-yingluck-over-rice-scheme/7955798">fined former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra</a> <span>35 billion baht ($1.3 billion) and ordered to have her assets seized as the result of a rice stockpiling scheme that went awry, Australia's ABC News reports. </span></p><p><span>Back in 2011, Thailand was the world's largest exporter of rice, accounting for 30% of the global market. Yingluck, who was prime minister at the time, introduced a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/good-news-thailand-rice-stockpile-2016-5">scheme</a> that would pay farmers a price 50% above current market value for their rice. </span></p><p><span>The idea was concocted ahead of the July 2011 election, which Yingluck ultimately won, and was designed to make Thai farmers wealthier while also taking supply off of the global market. In theory, Thailand would then able to sell the rice at a higher price because there was less supply.</span></p><p><span>However, things didn't go according to plan. Prices didn't rise as much as Thailand anticipated, and other big rice producers like India and Vietnam saw this as an opportunity to flood the market. Thailand was left with heaping rice inventories and warehouses filled to the brim. </span></p><p><span>In 2014, <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-27530817">Yingluck was overthrown by a military coup</a>, and now more than five years after the rice scheme was introduced, Thailand is the world's second largest rice exporter, trailing rival India. </span></p><p><span><span>"In terms of the order, it is not right and it is not just," Yingluck told reports outside a Bangkok court, according to ABC News.</span></span></p>      <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/waffle-house-index-used-track-hurricanes-fema-matthew-2016-10">FEMA is tracking Hurricane Matthew using the 'Waffle House Index'</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="RqdTJkNjE6P7Zz1ngH-16GYRNnLnymBd" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

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How Better Rice Could Save Millions Of Lives

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