04/03/13: Milling in 1889; rice milling in Pakistan; UK and GM feed

We start the week with a blast from the past. 1889 in fact. These photos from Victoria in British Columbia, Canada show an rice mill in action. 

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The struggling rice milling industry in Sindh, Pakistan is to receive financial aid from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Sindh Enterprise Development Fund (SEDF). The State Bank of Pakistan has agreed to extend the credit finance to commercial banks for onward lending to rice millers at 6.25 percent in a bid to prop up the ailing industry.

SEDF will deposit 30 percent of the principal amount with the SBP as credit guarantee and will earn a profit, as well. Of this, SEDF will pick up 6.25 percent due to rice millers and payable to the SBP to support rice millers.
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Food prices will rise quicker unless Britain embraces GM food, says the British Environment Secretary, Owen Paterson. Speaking at the National Union of Farmers conference, Paterson told delegates that a delay on GM crops could push up food prices. However, 85 percent of meat consumed in Britain was fed of GM soy maize for cost reasons.
Read Paterson's speech in full...

English: Boiled Rice (Photo credit: Wikipedia)