Down To The Bottom Of The Rice Bowl

Alarming Trends Shown in Survey of World Production

THE seriousness of the world rice situation cannot be over emphasised.

It is the number-one food headache of to-day and the immediate future and, without too much exaggeration, it can be said that peace in Asia—even if it is the uneasy peace of the present—could depend upon sufficient supplies of it.

FOR hundreds of the world’s popu lation it is the staple food; for many of these it is the only r ood. Cheap and plentiful rice means

comparative contentment; scarce

and dear rice means famine, discon tentment and trouble.

Elsewhere in this issue is a report that the latest shipment of rice re ceived in the Solomons is being sold for £l2O per ton. Before the war this same grade of rice was selling at somewhere around £l2 per ton.

Behind this fantastic rise in price lies the troubled story of South- East Asia in these post-war years.

This £l2O-per-ton, BSI rice came from Saigon because Australia was unable to supply the Solomons with all the rice she needs—as reported in June PIM, Australia’s rice crop this year is much below normal, mainly due to Mr. Evatt’s ducks which last year ate the young rice.

But Australia’s rice crop, even in the best year on record —probably something around 80,000 tons —is a mere drop in the ocean of world rice requirements. All of it at present is going to feed near Pacific Islan ders and some Asiatics. All of this rice is grown on the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area and it is understood that rice planting cannot be ex tended there because the irrigation water available is already fully em ployed.

As experts are enthusiastic about the prospects of rice growing in Papua-New Guinea, it might be imagined that there would be simi lar prospects in Northern Queens land. Little has been heard of a rice growing scheme for this area —possibly because the most likely country is already growing sugar cane.

To make any impression on the rice problem quickly, large areas will have to be sown and mechani sation employed as far as possible.

This rules out much improvement in production in Fiji where the crop is grown by Indian peasant farmers in small, pocket-handkerchief plots, planted and harvested by hand.

In Papua-New Guinea numerous rice-growing projects are in contem plation and experts are of the opinion that in some of the areas adjacent to the Territory’s large rivers the wet type of rice can be grown with success. (Most of P-NG rice grown at present is the dry or hill type of rice which, we understand, does

not yield prolifically).

All rice grown in the Territory

Department b of n ASS projSte or by native co-operatives. Obviously the authorities have some idea of the urgent need to grow more rice,

and there has been the usual talk of interesting private enterprise in growing it on a large scale. But to this latter aspect there is of course the usual ancillary problem of avail ability of land and labour —a prob lem which is not helped by the atti tude of some missions in P-NG who feel they must “protect” native land rights, *and who wail whenever it is suggested that Europeans take up land to produce much-needed tropical crops.

Present World Production

Some idea of the overall world rice position is given in the follow ing facts and figures. (Next Page)

Surplus American rice goes to Cuba; surplus Italian rice to Europe.

The traditional pre-war rice pro ducing countries of the East were Indo-China, Borneo and Siam. Be tween them they exported about eight million tons a year. To-day they export something like 2\ mil lion tons. The reason for this calamitous decline is not hard to seek. All three countries have been torn by nationalistic upheavals, Communistic insurrections and po litical troubles. Peasant farmers living amid these uncertainties are not interested in growing crops for export. If they can produce enough food for themselves they consider themselves lucky.

Two other factors also come into the picture. One is the alarming growth of world population—some thing like 25 million (the bulk of it Asian and rice-eating) every year.

Even if rice were produced on the pre-war scale it would be inadequate for to-day’s needs.

The second factor is Japan, which for the first time is in the market for surplus rice. Before the war Japan produced her own rice re quirements in Korea and Formosa which were then included in her overseas possessions. Precious little of any sort of crop has been grown in Korea in the last two years; and the Chinese Nationalist army which is hibernating in Formosa is, no doubt, taking care of any rice crop grown in that area.

Japan is in the happy position of being able to pay for her rice requirements with manufactured goods offered at prices with which no one else can compete.

Future Empire Production

In an article in a recent issue of “New Commonwealth,” British MP Bernard Braine said that experi ments in mechanised cultivation of rice are proceeding apace in Tan ganyika, Nyasaland, Nigeria, Nor thern Rhodesia and Sierra Leone but there was little likelihood of any surplus rice coming from these sources for many years—all of it was consumed where it was culti vated.

In the meantime, the rice require ments of territories in the East for which Britain had a responsibility were 770,000 tons of rice annually.

Efforts were being made in most of these places to grow more rice themselves but such was the in crease of population that it easily outstripped present efforts. Malaya grew about 300,000 tons of rice be fore the war, last year produced 440,000 tons and by 1955 expects to be producing over half a million tons per year. But her population is keeping pace and it is expected that she will continue to import between 50 to 60 per cent, of her rice requirements, as now—if she can.

In Mr. Braine’s opinion the best prospect for a quick return for effort is in the West Indies colony of

British Guiana where production

ould be raised from the present •reduction of 65,000 tons per year o over 300,000 tons per year. This ncrease depends upon work being arried out to control the head waters of certain rivers. Last year, with this in view, £750,000 stg. was dvanced from the Colonial Devel jpment and Welfare Fund, but, ays Mr. Braine. little progress has •een recorded since.

In The South Pacific

Riae has been traditionally the taple food of all native labour in South Pacific territories. The time eems to be coming, however, when he employer of labour will have to row rice for his own requirements r find a cheaper substitute for it.

Before the war a ton of rice cost pproximately the same as the price eceived by the planter for a ton of opra. The latest Honiara price for ice is almost twice as much as JSI planters receive for their copra, n other words, while copra is bring ng about five or six times more han it did before the war, rice is ,lmost 10 times as expensive. Pro iucers of islands crops such as übber and copra face a falling ciarket but the prospect of a return o the days of cheap rice from the last seems very remote indeed.

No other food has the advantages •f rice for native labour rations ither in the matter of convenience r nutrition. But if present trends

continue employers must soon ask themselves if they can afford it, even if they can get it.

Colonel H. T. Allan, formerly of New Guinea, who settled in Syd ney a couple of years ago, is now moving on to Goffs Harbour, NSW, where he is interested in a large

enterprise based on land subdi vision. Also going to Goffs Harbour is Major Norman Neal, who retired from Wau, New Guinea, to Sydney last year. The two men are old Army friends; they and their fam ilies were closely associated in New Guinea; and now they hope to be together again in various activities in the Goffs Harbour district.