USRPA continues the success of its partnership with the Salvadorian Rice Association (ASALBAR), the local rice millers group, to conduct a promotional campaign to address the constraint of a lack of consumer awareness of rice. Campaign messages will point out to consumers that rice is an economical source of good nutrition it is abundant and appetizing, so the Salvadorian consumer would be persuaded to eat rice every day at more than one meal. USRPA will also emphasize that most Salvadorian brands use U.S. rice.
USRPA’s Market Expansion Strategies are conducting in supermarkets, and also includes radio spots on national coverage, radio interviews and a page layout in a culinary magazine to expand our message that rice is a nutritious and economical addition to their daily diet for Salvadorians. Promotional activities are conducted by a well-known chef “La Chilena” across El Salvador but mainly in San Salvador. The campaign slogan is “Todo es mas nutritivo con Arroz” (Everything is more Nutritious with rice) is used repeatedly through the campaign in supermarket promotions, magazine advertisements and radio spots, that way the consumers will have constant reinforcement that rice is nutritious and can be combined in many ways to provide a healthy meal.
Guatemala Social Media Campaign
Since the Guatemalan government implemented strict stay at home orders due to the development of COVID-19, the use of social media has increased significantly. USRPA considered it very important to continue the promotional campaign presence and started a social media campaign using social platforms including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter. Consumers are targeted with live cooking classes, video recipes, photos, cooking tips, menu ideas, rice facts, and more. In June we launched the first live interactive virtual cooking course where attendees can follow along for free on Zoom, live cooking classes are broadcasting two days a week since June and we will continue to the rest of the year.
Thanks to the success of the social media campaign an increase of new followers, shares, and likes has been reflected in the data. Our Facebook fan page “USA ARROZ” counts with 1,552 followers and the number increasing day by day. Page analysis reported an increase in the number of followers not only in Guatemala but also in Colombia, Peru, Mexico, USA, Argentina, and Bolivia. This campaign allows us to go beyond a single sector since social networks reach all over the world.
Guatemala Market Expansion Strategies
Under the Market Expansion Strategies promotions, USRPA continues its partnership with the Guatemalan Rice Association (ARROZGUA), the local rice producers and millers group, to conduct promotional campaign to make consumers aware of the benefits, both economical and nutritional, of adding rice in the diet of low-income Guatemalan consumers. The targets of promotions are housewives between 16 and 45 years of age who make purchasing decisions for households in socioeconomic levels C and D.
USRPA’s Market Expansion Strategies consist of bringing rice to town plazas, markets, supermarkets, fairs, and other locations for demonstrating how to cook rice while giving away recipe/information brochures on the benefits of adding rice to the diet. These simple promotions allow people who have never tried rice, or are unfamiliar with it, to see how easily rice is prepared and how good it tastes. Consumers are attracted to events by radio, newspaper ads, mobile sound trucks, posters, and fliers and may request future training courses for groups or institutes. Campaign messages will point out to consumers that rice is an economical source of good nutrition and that rice tastes good and can be served more frequently in Guatemalan households. The campaign slogan “Eat Delicious, Eat Healthy, Eat Abundant, EAT Rice” will be used repeatedly through the campaign.
School Nutrition Program and Market Expansion Strategies Campaign will be conducted in the same area simultaneously. We believe that with this strategy the consumer will be saturated with the same message in the schools and the nearby supermarkets and markets.
Volume 17, Issue 28
July 16, 2020
In This Issue:
• Gulf Coast Rice Harvest Should be in Full Swing Next Week • Agriculture in the Presidential Election • Texas Rice Update • 2020 USAEDC Goes Virtual
By: Dr. M.O. Way, Prof. of Entomology, Texas AgriLife Research & Extension Ctr.
For this article, I want to talk about the South American rice miner, Hydrellia wirthi, which I observed last week infesting fields of Cheniere and XL753 near Nome, TX. This species is exotic and originated in its namesake. I first observed this insect feeding on rice in fields west of Houston in 2004/2005. This is a minor and miner pest (a little joke there…very little!). Around this time, it was found in Louisiana attacking a field of seedling rice. In this case, the farmer had to replant. The adult fly lays an egg on rice foliage near the junction of the leaf sheath and blade. The egg hatches and the larva bores into the leaf and begins feeding. It continues mining the leaf until it pupates and emerges as an adult fly. The signs of damage are tattered, ragged leaves. Sometimes the larva will mine the leaf when it is furled; when the leaf “unfurls”, the damage is something like when you made a snowflake as a kid. You would fold up a piece of paper, then cut random holes in the edges, then when you unfolded the paper a snowflake appeared! With this insect, when the damaged leaf unfurls, the damage runs up and down and across the leaf. Often the end of the leaf drops off leaving yellowish mines or stripes running up and down the leaf. Sometimes the end of the damaged leaf will hang onto the rest of the leaf by a small piece of leaf tissue. So, the plant takes on a ragged appearance. Damage I have observed in Texas has always been minor (there we go again!) usually after flood when rice is tillering. It takes a lot of defoliation at this time (about 20%) to affect yield. Also, I have most often observed damage where stands are low next to levees or water boxes. Go to the following LSU AgCenter link to learn more about this insect https://www.lsuagcenter.com/topics/crops/rice/insects/presentations/16south-american-rice-miner.
So, if you see this type of damage, don’t be alarmed unless the damage is really bad throughout the field. You can always contact me at 409-239-4265 or moway@aesrg.tam.edu.
Adult fly of South American rice miner (the fly is about the size of a common house fly); (photo from the internet) and South American rice miner damage; photos by Dr. Mo Way
Agriculture in The Presidential Election
This week Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden released a document entitled THE BIDEN PLAN TO BUILD A MODERN, SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE AND AN EQUITABLE CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE which includes many of his various agriculture and rural development-related policies. The document, which may be accessed here, is based on policies developed by the Biden-Saunders Unity task force which include the following:
Chiraag Bains, director of legal strategies for the think tank Demos; Reps. Karen Bass and Lucille Roybal-Allard of California, Bobby Scott of Virginia, Pramila Jayapal of Washington, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez of New York, and Marcia Fudge of Ohio; Dr. Heather Gautney, a sociology professor and former Senate staffer; Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center; former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy; former Secretary of State and Senator John Kerry; and union activist Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA.
An examination of these policies will inform producers regarding Biden’s agriculture and rural development priorities which he will pursue if elected President. An excerpt of a portion pertaining to sustainable agriculture and conservation follows, however, the plan includes many other related policies such as agriculture labor:
6. INVEST IN SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND CONSERVATION
Mobilizing the next generation of conservation and resilience workers through a Civilian Climate Corps. Biden will put a new, diverse generation of patriotic Americans to work conserving our public lands, bolstering community resilience, and addressing the changing climate, while putting good-paying union jobs within reach for more Americans, including women and people of color. This initiative will be complemented by a new generation of scientists and land managers committed to ecological integrity and natural climate solutions. These workers will use sound, science-based techniques to thin and sustainably manage our forests, making them more resilient to wildfire and enhancing their carbon intake and habitat integrity; restore wetlands to protect clean water supplies and leverage greater flood protection; repair dilapidated irrigation systems to conserve water; plant millions of trees to help reduce heat stress in urban neighborhoods; protect and restore coastal ecosystems, such as wetlands, seagrasses, oyster reefs, and mangrove and kelp forests, to protect vulnerable coastlines, sequester carbon, and support biodiversity and fisheries; enhance the carbon intake of natural and working lands, wetlands, reefs, and underwater mangrove and kelp forests; remove invasive species; improve wildlife corridors; build hiking and biking trails and access to other recreational amenities; and reinvigorate landscapes and seascapes, unlocking economic and climate resilience in places like the Great Lakes, the Everglades, our nation’s great river systems including the Colorado River, and the Gulf of Mexico.
Creating more than a quarter-million jobs immediately to clean up local economies from the impacts of resource extraction. Biden will direct a front-loaded investment to immediately address the backlog of remediation, reclamation, and restoration needs left behind by the CEOs whose corporations failed to meet their responsibilities to the communities where they operated. Across the country, there are several million unplugged, orphaned, and abandoned oil and gas wells that pose ongoing climate, health, and safety risks in communities. The oil, methane and brine that leaks from these wells contaminates the air and water, and the problem is only getting worse. In addition to these wells, tens of thousands of former mining sites for extraction of coal, hardrock minerals, and uranium are causing ongoing environmental damage including to local surface and groundwater supplies. By making an immediate up-front investment, Biden will create more than 250,000 good jobs with a choice to join a union to plug these oil and gas wells and to restore and reclaim these abandoned coal, hardrock, and uranium mines. This program will create jobs for skilled technicians and operators in some of the hardest hit communities in the country, while reducing leakage of toxic chemicals, methane, and other wastes and preventing local environmental damage. Biden will also hold companies accountable for the environmental damage of their operations, including by clawing back golden parachutes and executive bonuses for companies that shift the environmental burdens of their actions onto taxpayers.
Standing up for our farms and ranches. Our family farmers and ranchers were already fighting an uphill battle because of Trump’s irresponsible trade policies and consistent siding with oil lobbyists over American growers, but COVID-19 has placed new pressures on that sector and the rural economies it sustains. Biden will bring back America’s advantage in agriculture, create jobs, and build a bright future for rural communities by investing in the next generation of agriculture and conservation; providing opportunities to new farmers and ranchers, including returning veterans and minorities, to enter the economy; and making it easier to pass farms and ranches onto the next generation, and:
Helping farmers leverage new technologies, techniques, and equipment to increase productivity and profit – including by providing low-cost finance for the transition to new equipment and methods, funding research and development in precision agriculture and new crops, and establishing a new voluntary carbon farming market that rewards farmers for the carbon they sequester on their land and the greenhouse gas emission reductions, including from methane, that they secure. These efforts to partner with farmers will help them tap into developing new income streams as they tackle the challenge of sequestering carbon, reducing emissions, and continue their track record as global leaders in agricultural innovation. Instead of making things harder for farmers, Biden will stand with them as they fight against the threats of climate change, droughts, flooding and extreme weather, while partnering with them to make American agriculture the first in the world to achieve net-zero emissions.
Pursuing smarter pro-worker and pro-family-farmer trade policies – knowing the difference between strong and effective trade enforcement and the self-defeating strategy Donald Trump has pursued. Biden will help farmers compete instead of crushing them.
Bolstering the security and resilience of our food supply, including by leveraging precision agriculture through regional demonstration projects to minimize the impacts of drought.
Making sure small and medium-sized farms and producers have access to fair markets where they can compete and get fair prices for their products – and requiring large corporations play by the rules instead of writing them – by strengthening enforcement of the Sherman and Clayton Antitrust Acts and the Packers and Stockyards Act.
Investing in diverse farmers to make our agriculture sector stronger and more resilient. American agriculture is strong in part because of our incredible range of farm types and sizes — and we’ve got to make sure that anyone who wants to serve our country as a farmer can get assistance from USDA. As President, Biden will ensure the U.S. Department of Agriculture ends historical discrimination against Black farmers in federal farm programs and that all socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers have access to programs that support their family farms.
Expanding protections for farm workers. Farm workers have always been essential to working our farms and feeding our country. As President, Biden will ensure farm workers are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve, regardless of immigration status. He will work with Congress to provide legal status based on prior agricultural work history and ensure labor and safety rules, including overtime, humane living conditions, and protection from pesticide and heat exposure, are enforced with respect to these particularly vulnerable working people.
Building on Biden’s rural plan, which includes proposals to re-invest in land grant universities’ agricultural research so the public, not private companies, owns patents to agricultural advances.
The US Rice Producers Association does not endorse any one party or candidate.
Guatemala School Nutrition Program
USRPA continues with the School Nutrition Program (SNP) in Guatemala as part of the Market Expansion Strategies Campaign.
The USRPA promotional teams will obtain from the appropriate agency permission to conduct training in schools, along with all information on schools necessary for program planning, including the student population of each school. A yearly schedule will be made and enough product obtained as needed to provide a school meal for each child at the schools and participating mothers.
USRPA School Nutrition Program teams composed of one coordinator and four trainers will visit up to four schools per day to influence and train school cooks/mothers and teachers. The two-hour cooking demonstration is conducted at the school kitchen or designated cooking space, this program is focused on teaching mothers the importance of including rice in their families diet as well as giving them different recipes to use rice at every meal. We must emphasize that due to the results of USRPA and Arrozgua campaigns during the past years, the Guatemalan Ministry of Education added rice to 8 of the 20 recipes included in the official recipe book given to the 25,000 schools across the country, 1/3 of the recipes are based on rice. These changes were previously discussed in meetings with technical committees and institutions related to health and nutrition in Guatemala where representatives of ARROZGUA and USRPA participated.
USRPA Participates in SABOR USA in Guatemala
USRPA staff, Texas rice producers, and USA Rice representatives participated in Sabor USA in Ciudad Cayala, Guatemala City, an activity organized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to promote American products locally. Sabor USA was highlighted by the participation of Ambassador Luis E. Arreaga, Agricultural Counselor Todd Drennan, and Sean Cox Agricultural Attaché. This year was the first year that USRPA and USARF joined to create promotional items together and work together jointly in a booth. In the past, both organizations had attended separately.
Sabor USA’s rice booth in Ciudad Cayala (left to right) Chef Javier (USA Rice), Ani Vettorazzi (USA Rice), Trey Barker (Texas farmer & USRPA Member Services), Bianka Rodriguez (USRPA Marketing Director), Roberto Wong (ARROZGUA General Director), Galen Franz (Texas farmer), Casey Smith (Texas farmer), Rosy Vettorazzi (USA Rice).
To prepare the paella, a team of 12 chefs used 150 pounds of rice, 50 pounds of shrimp, 50 pounds of chicken, 37 pounds of sausage and condiments. During the activity, 1547 rice samples (paella dish) were served.
Ambassador Luis E. Arreaga (4th from right) and Agricultural Counselor Todd Drennan (5th from right) stopped by the rice stand.
Volume 17, Issue 27
July 9, 2020
In This Issue:
USDA WASDE Report to Offer Final Market Factors Prior to New Crop Harvest