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After a long observation of the high rate of rice importation and low productivity in Côte d’Ivoire, the certified rice seed was introduced and encouraged to be used by the local farmers. This study evaluates the profitability of rice production and the impact of certified seed usage on the yield and income of farmers in Côte d’Ivoire.

Data were collected from 265 rice farmers. Descriptive statistics were used to identify the challenges faced in using certified seeds. Profitability analysis was used to examine the profitability of rice production. To eliminate bias due to the counterfactuals, the endogenous switching regression was employed to investigate the impact of the certified seeds on income and yield.

The difficulties faced by the rice farmers in the procurement of certified seeds were the unavailability of seeds, the high cost of seeds and poor credit access. Furthermore, rice farmers using certified seeds get a higher net income (USD 263.74/ha) than those using farmers' seeds (USD 212.31/ha). The average treatment on the treated was 1.61 for the yield and 574.75 for the income. The average treatment on the untreated was 1.20 for the yield and 422.59 for the income. These indicate a higher yield and income among adopters of certified rice seed.

Certified rice seed usage is profitable and enhances the output and income of rice farmers. The study advocates the creation of a stronger relationship between the farmers and the extension agents to encourage the use of certified seeds and increase the profit of the farmers.

There is scant information on the profitability of certified rice seed usage and how it affect yield and income. Therefore, this study serves as empirical evidence for policymakers to develop strategies that are required to enhance certified seed usage, boost rice productivity and achieve food security.

The purpose of this paper is to examine descriptive sensory characteristics and consumer acceptability of eight commercial ready-to-eat cooked rice samples by 8 trained panelists and 50 consumers.

A total of 24 descriptive attributes for appearance, odor/aroma, taste/flavor, and texture were developed. Also Consumer Acceptability (CA) was performed for overall liking, appearance, flavor, and texture liking. All statistical analyses were using analysis of variance, principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), and partial least square regression (PLSR).

The overall liking score for the cooked white rice from C brand was the highest (6.43) among the eight samples. Three groups of eight commercial ready-to-eat cooked rice samples were obtained from PCA and HCA. The samples of cooked white rice from C, N, and O brand characterized by intactness, starch odor, translucency, whiteness, and glossiness were located on to the positive PLS 1, whereas the samples of cooked white rice from D and E brand characterized by scorched odor, cohesiveness, stickiness, and moistness were located on the negative side of PLS 2 in the PLSR analysis.

Further studies on the improvement of sensory quality for brown rice are necessary to increase CA in terms of health functionality of brown rice.

The purpose of this paper was to analyse the present status of the information available on rice bean [Vigna umbellata (Thunb.)] cultivars with respect to its nutritional and functional characteristics. It is one of the non-conventional and under-utilized beans of South and Southeast Asia. In northeastern regions of India, it is an important crop for shifting cultivation or kitchen garden which is consumed as vegetable (tender pod) and pulse. The information gaps filling could be useful for several work proposals and for consumers and cultivators to know the nutritional strength and varied usability of the grain which in-turn can help in its commercialization.

The approach to information collection was emphasized on nutritional strength of the grain compared to other beans of Vigna family and the varied usability among the rice bean varieties of the Himalayan Belt.

The average carbohydrate, protein, fat, crude fibre and ash content of 75 genotypes of rice bean was found 59.96 ± 2.81, 20.78 ± 2.65, 1.74 ± 1.42, 5.07 ± 1.17 and 4.44 ± 1.03 per cent, respectively. It has high quality protein with all essential amino acid in balance manner. Among the minerals, it contains calcium, iron, zinc and potassium with high bio-availability of calcium (59.8 ± 0.3 per cent). The factors such as flatulence producing saccharides, trypsin inhibitors, polyphenols, phytic acid, saponin and tannins of rice bean were reported to be in the range of 3.28-5.87 per cent, 55.12-163.98 TIU/g, 0.58-1.82 1.88-8.17, 1.2-3.1 and 0.24-1.55 per cent, respectively. The toxic compounds such as hydrogen cyanide (0.09 mg/100 g) and L-3, 4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (0.36 mg/100 g) is lowest in rice bean. The nutritional advantages of rice bean over the other beans of Vigna family were required to emphasize to induce interest among the researchers, producers and consumers.

In view of the recommended daily requirements with respect of amino acids, vitamin-B and minerals, rice bean could be a major component of the diet to fulfill them. However, the scanty information available on nutritional and functional components of rice bean varieties grown in northeastern India calls for the gap filing research to explore full potential of the bean.

The information about differences among the northeastern varieties of rice bean available on nutritional functional components essentially required the updating of research data to explore full potential and utility of the bean.

Anhui Winall Hi-Tech Seed Co., Ltd., a high-tech seed enterprise integrating crop seed research, production, processing and marketing at home and abroad, is the first seed company listed on GEM in China. Its main business is research and development, breeding and marketing of seeds of hybrid rice, edible rape, cotton, melon and vegetable, with hybrid rice as its leading product. In terms of business model, Winall Hi-tech is engaged in procurement, production, sales and promotion of modified varieties and after-sales service. However, Winall Hi-tech also has to face a few potential problems.

The purpose of this paper is to examine rice attributes that are valued by the urban consumers of Cambodia and identifies the factors that influence consumers’ decisions on a set of rice attributes.

The study uses incomplete ranking choice data, gathered from a stated preference survey conducted from 350 consumers of two cities in Cambodia, to model consumers’ alternative choices of rice traits in a setting of a random utility framework. Empirically, a rank-ordered logistic regression is fitted to identify the factors influencing consumers’ perception on a set of rice attributes.

The results suggest that the probability of choosing rice that is soft is highest for consumers in Cambodia. The second and third most preferred rice attributes are taste and aroma, respectively. The results also indicate that rice consumption is significantly affected by location, economic class of consumers, family size and educational attainment.

The research was carried out using consumers in two urban cities in Cambodia as a case study; therefore, the findings might not represent all consumers’ preferences for rice traits in the country.

The present study contributes to the overall rice grain preference literature examining consumers’ perceptions on rice traits and the factors influencing their decision in choosing rice traits. The results originating from this study will help to guide rice breeders in developing new varieties with traits that will be acceptable to consumers and other value chain actors.

The consumption of rice that contains high levels of inorganic arsenic may cause human health risk. This study aims to determine As species concentrations, particularly iAs, in raw rice in Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City and its health risks.

A total of 60 polished raw composite samples of rice were purchased from traditional markets and supermarkets in HCM City. All samples were analyzed by HPLC-ICPMS for As species determination.

Mean concentrations of inorganic arsenic in all samples, which were purchased from supermarket and traditional market, were 88.8 µg/kg and 80.6 µg/kg, respectively. Overall, inorganic arsenic level was 84.7 µg/kg and contributed the highest proportion of arsenic species in rice with 67.7%. The proportion profiles for arsenic species were: As (III) (60 %); dimethylarsinic acid (32.2 %); As (V) (7.7 %) and methylarsonic acid (0.1 %). Inorganic arsenic level in raw rice was below the recommendation of World Health Organization. Using the benchmark dose recommended by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), all exposure doses were lower than BMDL05. However, as the doses ranged from 3.0 to 8.6 of Margin of Exposure (MOE), the health risk of iAs from rice consumption remains public health concern.

The study results report on the surveillance data of the presence of inorganic arsenic in raw rice products, which are available in the supermarkets and traditional markets, and its health risk to consumers in a metropolitan city in Vietnam.

At a meeting of the Council of the Royal Borough of Kensington on June 5th Councillor A. J. RICE‐OXLEY, M.D., Chairman of the Public Health Committee, brought up a report as follows:—

This paper aims to investigate how climatic, market and policy factors interact to determine food production in Togo. Specifically, we estimate acreage and yield response to market prices, weather and policy changes for maize and rice.

We use panel data estimators in a Seemingly Unrelated Regressions Equation (SURE) model with region-level data from the Food and Agriculture Organization statistics department and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the US Department of commerce.

We found lower fertilizer price and higher grain price effects on maize acreage and yield. In addition, we found a positive effect of expected rice price on both its acreage and yield. As expected, rainfall during planting months has a significant impact on both maize (April) and paddy (May) acreage allocations. Similarly, total rainfall during the growing season has a positive impact on both maize and paddy yields. Moreover, recent agricultural policy initiative designed to boost domestic food production has significantly increased acreage and yield for maize, and yield for paddy, especially the strategy for agricultural growth.

The dataset includes region-level observations from 1991 to 2012 which limits the observation span. However, we had enough variability in key variables to determine the estimated coefficients.

Although the dataset is limited in time (1991–2012) and uses national-level output prices, this investigation reveals that cropland allocation to maize and rice is sensitive to fertilizer and grain prices, weather expectations and policy interventions. These findings provide evidence for sustainable food production and productivity enhancement in Togo.

Understanding drivers of cropland allocation and cereal yield contribute to better food security and poverty reduction in developing countries, especially Togo.

Prior to this study, little was known on the effect of price, climate and policy on cropland allocation in Togo. This investigation contributes significantly to filling this knowledge gap and provides insights for effective interventions.

Purpose – Agribusiness is crucial for the Brazilian trade balance surplus. Innovation, not only that focused on technology or productivity, is a basic condition for its development. The context of the agribusiness activities in a developing country is dynamic and requires a multilevel and multifaceted view. This suggests that these features need to be incorporated both in the theories and methods. Therefore, we propose a method, from within the perspective of Configurations Theory, of capturing this dynamic multidimensionality. The method was applied in the context of the rice-farming business in Southern Brazil.

Methodology/approach – The proposed method, which we refer to as a Case Study Method with Multiple Units of Analysis and Mixed Methods, was applied in a research organization in an attempt to identify the evolution of innovation while considering a theoretical perspective based on multilevel rules.

Findings – Six different configurations in the temporal organization of research were identified. These six configurations describe the evolution of four emphases given to innovation, the drivers associated with the evolution of these emphases, and the changes that have occurred over time.

Social implications – The results may provide support for new public policies for rice farming and lead to improvements in the organization's strategies for innovation.

Originality/value of chapter – The combination of methods used (Case Study, Qualitative Comparative Analysis, Social Network Analysis, Path Dependence, and Patterns of Decision Making) to study configurations, together with the dynamic approach to innovation based on multilevel rule, is unique.

Assuming that organizations are open and have increasingly permeable boundaries, one risks overlooking the strategies employed by organizations to defend their own logics and routines, as illustrated by the example of the implementation of active labor market policies. It is often assumed that only open, networked organizations can fulfill the demand of offering individualized employment and social services to citizens. On the basis of an in-depth case study, we show how a jobcenter organization dealt with these challenges by developing its own decision-making criteria on a procedural, structural, and personal dimension. This implies not only cognitive openness but also operational closure and increased internal “requisite variety,” in the language of systems theory.