Rice in Asia, experts have expressed skepticism about the plan to erase the Philippines import rice by 2013 due to lack of government preparedness to deal with the vagaries of weather, as well as the necessary funds to finance programs for key. Dr. William Dar, a former agriculture secretary and current director general of the India-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semiarid Tropics (ICRISAT), said that the P15 billion allocated to support the palay production, only P3 billion has been released.

Rice University students in a class titled “Religion and Hip-Hop Culture” will attend a panel discussion tonight at St. John's United Methodist Church. The participants will discuss whether rap music has a place in the church. 'Religion and Hip-Hop Culture' is co-taught by Anthony Pinn, the Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities and professor of religious studies, and Houston-based rapper Bernard Freeman, better known as Bun B. The class has generated widespread interest at Rice and beyond.

The phenomena associated with the movement of individuals, peoples, ideas, practices and goods across the borders and boundaries of Asia and beyond will be explored during a two-day  Transnational Asia Graduate Student Conference Feb. 18-19 at Rice University. Rice's Chao Center for Asian Studies will host the conference in the Kyle Morrow Room on the third floor of Fondren Library, 6100 Main St. For directions, go to http://www.rice.edu/maps/maps.html.

 A recent Bloomberg report has quoted Robert Zeigler, director general of the International Rice Research Institute, IRRI, as saying that the price of rice, the staple food for more than half the world is most likely to advance in the coming weeks as wheat’s rally is driving consumers to seek alternatives. “If wheat production falls, people will have to substitute with something in their diet: rice is the easiest,” said Zeigler, who’s over three decades of experience in agricultural research. There are no signs of panic buying, he said.