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India has signed a seed policy agreement which aims to speed up distribution of modern rice varieties across nations in South and Southeast Asia. The eight other Asian countries that are part of the agreement are Cambodia, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. Modern rice types such as those that are climate-resilient and can withstand drought or salinity, help vulnerable farmers establish a secure food supply for their families as well as add income that they can invest in their own future. The institute has partnered with 17 rice growing countries in Asia and Africa and runs offices in member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and countries such as Bangladesh, Burundi, China, India, Mozambique, Nepal, Pakistan, South Korea and Sri Lanka.

Spring spiked cereals were sown on an area of 14.39 million hectares as of June 10, 2017 (100.4% of the plan) that is 2% less than at the same time last year (14.68 million hectares or 100.1% of the plan). The rice sowing target in the country has already been exceeded by 11.4%. Kazakh farmers planted 103 thousand hectares of rice by the reporting date, or 9.8% more than at the same time last year (93.8 Th ha).

The government will tap private suppliers for rice imports, instead of entering government-to-government agreements, in a bid to increase competitiveness and transparency. National Food Authority Council has agreed to shift from government-to-government agreements to a government-to-private procurement scheme for importing 250,000 tons of rice. NFA Council divide 250,000 metric tons into 8-10 tranches with a 25,000 to 5000 MT cap per lot to ensure competition and fairness.

Imported rice could no longer be shipped through Subic Bay Freeport based on the latest decision of the National Food Authority (NFA) Council. The decision came after weeks after the Bureau of Customs reportedly seized thousands of sacks of rice from Thailand illegally shipped through Subic port. The shipment was seized last April due to lack of import permit. It was reportedly worth P23 million.

Bangladesh is set to buy 250,000 tonnes of white and parboiled rice from Vietnam at prices $50-$90 higher per ton than the previous month, to maintain immediate availability of stock in the market, as well as reserves. The government will be importing 200,000 tonnes of white rice at $430 per ton, though the price per ton was $380 in the last month. The ministry is also planning on procuring 50,000 tonnes of parboiled rice at a cost of $470 per ton, while the price had been less than $450 just a week ago. In addition, in a recent international tender by the food ministry, parboiled rice was listed at $ 427.85 per tonne and white rice was at $406.48. The country rice stock has hit a 5 year low, at 193,000 tonnes.