International Rice Trade Research Articles

Unpacking the Global Rice Trade Network: Centrality, Structural Holes, and the Nexus of Food Insecurity.

The challenging international landscape and exacerbated extreme weather conditions contribute to the instability of global grain trade, complicating its impact on food security. This complexity is particularly pronounced for varieties like rice, which are heavily affected by policy-driven trade restrictions. There is insufficient research on how a country's rice trade characteristics affect food security. A network analysis approach is adopted to intricately dissect the structural characteristics of rice trade. To explore causality with food insecurity, this paper chooses structural holes and centrality as representatives of trade network characteristics and regresses them on the food insecurity indicator. With cross-national data spanning over 30 years, the network analysis provides a clear portrayal of the dynamic changes in international rice trade. The overall resilience of the trade network has increased, but specific countries' vulnerability has also risen. Unlike the changing trends in features observed in grain and food trade networks, there is a notable intensification in the imbalance of power distribution in the rice trade network compared to over 30 years ago. The panel data regression results show that constraint, indicating the scarcity of structural holes or connections to stronger trading partners, significantly and positively influences a country's level of food insecurity. Based on these findings, the policy proposal for importing countries emphasizes creating strategic trade connections. By choosing appropriate trade partners that reduce constraint, food security can be enhanced, even without improvements in other conditions.

RICE CYCLES AND PRICE CYCLES: LOCAL KNOWLEDGE AND GLOBAL TRADE IN KOREA, 1870–1933

This article examines a hitherto neglected aspect of the expansion of international trade in nineteenth-century East Asia—that of how ordinary people understood changing trade patterns. Rather than the political debates and imperial competition that have been the focus of existing research, I use the diary of Sim Wŏn’gwŏn (1850–1933), a farmer from Ulsan, southeastern Korea, to assess how knowledge shaped Sim’s perception of, and response to, the international grain trade. Sim used his diary to develop an economic world view based on his observation of cyclical, seasonal changes in the weather, harvests, and prices. While this enabled Sim to anticipate some fluctuations, the international rice trade posed a challenge as local market prices began to reflect events beyond Sim’s sphere of information. I argue that uneven access to knowledge influenced Sim’s participation in international trade, which in turn cannot be understood without reference to Sim’s existing understanding of the economy.

Drivers and trade-offs of multiple environmental stressors from global rice

Rice is a staple food supplying a large share of calories in so many countries and requiring a large amount of land and water. Rice is also a substantial source of methane (CH 4 ) emissions. In this paper, water and land use, and CH 4 emissions from rice in 167 countries during the period2000-2016 are estimated.A Physical Trade Analysis based on a Material Flow Analysis is developed to estimate the virtual water, land and emissions linked to international rice trade and to final consumption. Globally, while water and land use, and CH 4 emissions from rice slightly grew from 2000 to 2016 (7-8%), a substantial improvement of the production efficiency resulted in saving of 187 Gm 3 of green water, 82 Gm 3 of blue water, 40 Mha of land and 31 ktonnes of CH 4 emissions (2000-2016). It implies that the main driver is the volume of rice produced. Domestic consumption covered the largest share (94%) whereas international trade had low significance (6%). However, for some Asiatic and African countries the trade contribution was relevant.The multiple assessment developed in this study allows the parallel evaluation of three environmental stressors revealing potential drivers and trade-offs among them. In particular, we find that when improving the yield by 0.5 tonnes/ha, a global reduction of about 10% for each stressor is recorded. The approach used in this paper constitutes a more advanced information for policymakersand an innovative tool upon which environmental policies may be based.

Rice life cycle-based global mercury biotransport and human methylmercury exposure

Protecting the environment and enhancing food security are among the world’s greatest challenges. Fish consumption is widely considered to be the single significant dietary source of methylmercury. Nevertheless, by synthesizing data from the past six decades and using a variety of models, we find that rice could be a significant global dietary source of human methylmercury exposure, especially in South and Southeast Asia. In 2013, globalization caused 9.9% of human methylmercury exposure via the international rice trade and significantly aggravated rice-derived exposure in Africa (62%), Central Asia (98%) and Europe (42%). In 2016, 180 metric tons of mercury were generated in rice plants, 14-fold greater than that exported from oceans via global fisheries. We suggest that future research should consider both the joint ingestion of rice with fish and the food trade in methylmercury exposure assessments, and anthropogenic biovectors such as crops should be considered in the global mercury cycle.

Pesticide Use in Rice with Emphasis on BPH and Residue Implications in Rice Grain Trade

When BPH attacks rice crop during flowering and grain hardening stage, it necessitates a pesticide application. That application(s) is likely to lead pesticide residues in grain. Such residue can be harmful to the health of the consumer or can become a cause of rejection of the grain when exported to foreign countries. Hence it is essential to have understanding about the residues of various pesticides recommended against BPH (and/or other pests) with regard to their residue implications. This paper describes briefly the analytical procedures for some important insecticides recommended and used against BPH like buprofezin, ethofenprox, thiamethoxam, chlorantraniliprole, Imidacloprid, pymetrozine, cyantraniliprole, fipronil and denotefuran, in different rice growing countries with special reference to their implications in international rice trade. However, it is painful to admit that there are no analytical methods available in literature for ethiprole and sulfoxaflor residue analysis in rice grain.

Transaction Cost Thresholds in International Rice Markets

AbstractRecent episodes of high and volatile prices for grains such as rice have raised concerns about their implications for hunger and poverty. We model price relationships between international rice prices and 221 domestic prices in 47 developing countries that import rice. We use a threshold vector error correction model that accounts for transaction costs of trade in spatial price transmission, and an improved regularised Bayesian threshold estimator for threshold models. Our results show that threshold values are higher after 2008 than before, which suggests that transaction costs in international rice trade have increased in recent years. Threshold values are highest for Latin American countries followed by African and Asian countries, and higher for retail than for wholesale prices. Since 2008, price transmission is slower in countries that responded to high and volatile prices with domestic market‐based interventions such as price controls and faster in countries that responded by lowering tariffs and by implementing production support measures.

The Unequal Effects of the Great Depression on Rural Households in Siam, 193001934: Crisis Transmission Through International Rice Trade

The paper assesses the differential impacts of the Great Depression on different types of households in rural Siam. It uses average household province-level data based on the first two rural household economic surveys conducted in Siam to empirically exploit the variation in the pattern of rice cultivation and commercialisation across provinces, and the variation in the exposure to the global crises over time, and use the difference-in-differences as well as the fixed-effects estimations to identify the unequal impacts. The paper finds that the Great Depression, through international rice trade, significantly affected households that cultivated rice for trade more heavily than self-sufficing households, in terms of total and farm income, overall expenditure, farm investment, and debts. The findings show that the exposure to the international trade, even for a small agricultural country in the periphery, had translated into the exposure to a reduction in household economic conditions during the time of the global crisis.

Caracterização de isolados de Xanthomonas sp. associados a sementes de arroz e diferenciação de estirpes de Xanthomonas oryzae

Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) e X. oryzae pv. oryzicola (Xoc), são os agentes causais do crestamento bacteriano da folha (CBF) e da estria bacteriana da folha (EBF), respectivamente, são pragas transmitidas por sementes e sofrem restrição no comércio internacional de arroz, por estarem ausentes em muitos países e possuírem potencial de comprometer seriamente a produção de arroz. Vinte e um isolados oriundos de sementes de arroz do Uruguai e Argentina, Gram negativos, oxidase positiva, com pigmentação amarela típica do gêneroXanthomonas e positivos no ELISA para Xoo, foram caracterizados para determinar a associação destes, com X. oryzae e seus patovares. Os isolados foram caracterizados por métodos bioquímicos, biológicos e quanto à sensibilidade a antibióticos. Análises de PCR e qPCR foram realizadas para a confirmação do gênero Xanthomonas e identificação de Xoo e Xoc. A caracterização de 21 isolados de Xanthomonas sp., positivos no ELISA para Xoo, mostrou variabilidade entre os isolados e distinção de Xo.

The blue, green and grey water footprint of rice from production and consumption perspectives

The paper makes a global assessment of the green, blue and grey water footprint of rice, using a higher spatial resolution and local data on actual irrigation. The national water footprint of rice production and consumption is estimated using international trade and domestic production data. The global water footprint of rice production is 784 km 3/year with an average of 1325 m 3/t which is 48% green, 44% blue, and 8% grey. There is also 1025 m 3/t of percolation in rice production. The ratio of green to blue water varies greatly over time and space. In India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar and the Philippines, the green water fraction is substantially larger than the blue one, whereas in the USA and Pakistan the blue water footprint is 4 times more than the green component. The virtual water flows related to international rice trade was 31 km 3/year. The consumption of rice products in the EU27 is responsible for the annual evaporation of 2279 Mm 3 of water and polluted return flows of 178 Mm 3 around the globe, mainly in India, Thailand, the USA and Pakistan. The water footprint of rice consumption creates relatively low stress on the water resources in India compared to that in the USA and Pakistan.

Commodity Market Integration: Case of Asian Rice Markets

Asia is becoming a global hub for agricultural commodity trade. Rice is an important staple food for most of the Asian population. Most of the international rice trade takes place within Asia. Efficient and integrated rice markets in Asia is essential for improving the volume of rice trade as only less than 6 percent of the global production is traded internationally. The paper test the extent cointegration among rice markets by using Johansen test, examined causality by Granger causality tests and also captures the speed of adjustment to divinations in long run equilibrium in rice prices by using vector error correction model. The result reveals that international rice price indices (Thai and US), farm harvest prices and also government support prices were cointegrated in the long run, however law of one price does not hold. Thai II(100) granger causes both Thai-A1-super and long grain No. 2 (4%)-US international price indices. There are five cointegrating vectors out of nine countries in case of farm harvest prices (FHPs). Japan, Thailand, Bangladesh and Philippines FHPs are exogenous and influence other countries prices, thereby important sources of price formation in the Asian rice market. Short-run elasticities are quite significant for some countries (between India and Thailand, between Bangladesh and Pakistan). Long-run elasticities of adjustment are quite low (only about 6 to 8 percent of total deviation in long run equilibrium will be corrected in a year in different countries). In case of Government support prices, only four price series are integrated out of nine countries considered. Granger causality results suggest that, no single country is completely exogenous, and many countries GSP prices are inter-linked to some extent. Here also short-run elasticities are significant for many countries GSP prices (ranging from 0.21 between India and Korea to 0.84 between Thailand and India). Long-run elasticities (ECTs) are quite low and insignificant. Overall the paper concludes that Thailand, Bangladesh, Philippines and Japan are important sources of price formation in Asian markets.

Noncompetitive Pricing and Exchange Rate Pass-Through in Selected U.S. and Thai Rice Markets

AbstractA “pricing to market” international trade model is applied to U.S. and Thai rice exports to high and middle income countries that are continuous rice importers. These markets are characterized by strong quality preferences and highly inelastic demand, and thus exporters may exercise market power. Evidence of noncompetitive pricing either through price discrimination across destinations or through imperfect exchange rate pass-through is found in this small but growing segment of the international rice trade.

Bookkeeping barter, money, credit, and Singapore's international rice trade, 1870–1939

A major part of the international rice trade has remained obscure because historians have hitherto failed to understand Singapore's role in it. This article shows how the rice trade was organized and financed through Singapore by means of a system of barter which combined Singapore's roles as an entrepot for the West and for the region. The article emphasizes the regional aspect of the port's commerce and argues that rice as the basis for regional entrepot trade was fundamental to the economic development of Singapore and to its growth as an Anglo-Chinese city.