• Title/Summary/Keyword: Environmental hazards

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Importance of Microtextural and Geochemical Characterizations of Soils on Landslide Sites (산사태지역 토층의 미세조직과 지화학적 특성의 중요성)

  • Kim Kyeong-Su;Choo Chang-Oh;Booh Seong-An;Jeong Gyo-Cheol
    • The Journal of Engineering Geology
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    • v.15 no.4 s.42
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    • pp.447-462
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    • 2005
  • The purposes of this study are to evaluate and discuss the importance of geochemical properties of soil materials that play an important role in the occurrence of the landslide, using analyses of microtexture, particle size distribution, XRC, and FE-SEM equipped with energy dispersive spectrum on soils collected from landslide slopes of gneiss, granite and sedimentary rock areas. Soils from gneiss and granite areas where landslides took place have much clay content relative to those from non landslide areas, particularly pronounced in the granite area. Therefore the clay content is considered a sensitive factor on landslide. Clay minerals contained in soils are illite, chlorite, kaolinite and montmorillonite. Especially the content of clay minerals in soils from the Tertiary sedimentary rocks is highest, with abundant montmorillonite as expandable species. It is believed that this area was much vulnerable to landslide comparable to other areas because of its high content of monoorillonite, even though there might be weak precipitation. Since no conspicuous differentiation in mineralogy between the landslide area and non landslide area can be made, the occurrence of landslide may be influenced not by mineralogy, but by local geography and mechanical properties of soils. Geochemical information on weathering properties, mineralogy, and microtexture of soils is helpful to better understand the causes and patterns of landslide, together with engineering geological analyses.

Streamflow response to climate change during the wet and dry seasons in South Korea under a CMIP5 climate model (CMIP5 기반 건기 및 우기 시 국내 하천유량의 변화전망 및 분석)

  • Ghafouri-Azar, Mona;Bae, Deg-Hyo
    • Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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    • v.51 no.spc
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    • pp.1091-1103
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    • 2018
  • Having knowledge regarding to which region is prone to drought or flood is a crucial issue in water resources planning and management. This could be more challenging when the occurrence of these hazards affected by climate change. In this study the future streamflow during the wet season (July to September) and dry season (October to March) for the twenty first century of South Korea was investigated. This study used the statistics of precipitation, maximum and minimum temperature of one global climate model (i.e., INMCM4) with 2 RCPs (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) scenarios as inputs for The Precipitation-Runoff Modelling System (PRMS) model. The PRMS model was tested for the historical periods (1966-2016) and then the parameters of model were used to project the future changes of 5 large River basins in Korea for three future periods (2025s, 2055s, and 2085s) compared to the reference period (1976-2005). Then, the different responses in climate and streamflow projection during these two seasons (wet and dry) was investigated. The results showed that under INMCM4 scenario, the occurrence of drought in dry season is projected to be stronger in 2025s than 2055s from decreasing -7.23% (-7.06%) in 2025s to -3.81% (-0.71%) in 2055s for RCP4.5 (RCP8.5). Regarding to the far future (2085s), for RCP 4.5 is projected to increase streamflow in the northern part, and decrease streamflow in the southern part (-3.24%), however under RCP8.5 almost all basins are vulnerable to drought, especially in the southern part (-16.51%). Also, during the wet season both increasing (Almost in northern and western part) and decreasing (almost in the southern part) in streamflow relative to the reference period are projected for all periods and RCPs under INMCM4 scenario.

The Causes of Conflict and the Effect of Control Mechanisms on Conflict Resolution between Manufacturer and Supplier (제조-공급자간 갈등 원인과 거래조정 방식의 갈등관리 효과)

  • Rhee, Jin Hwa
    • Journal of Distribution Research
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    • v.17 no.4
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    • pp.55-80
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    • 2012
  • I. Introduction Developing the relationships between companies is very important issue to ensure a competitive advantage in today's business environment (Bleeke & Ernst 1991; Mohr & Spekman 1994; Powell 1990). Partnerships between companies are based on having same goals, pursuing mutual understanding, and having a professional level of interdependence. By having such a partnerships and cooperative efforts between companies, they will achieve efficiency and effectiveness of their business (Mohr and Spekman, 1994). However, it is difficult to expect these ideal results only in the B2B corporate transaction. According to agency theory which is the well-accepted theory in various fields of business strategy, organization, and marketing, the two independent companies have fundamentally different corporate purposes. Also there is a higher chance of developing opportunism and conflict due to natures of human(organization), such as self-interest, bounded rationality, risk aversion, and environment factor as imbalance of information (Eisenhardt 1989). That is, especially partnerships between principal(or buyer) and agent(or supplier) of companies within supply chain, the business contract itself will not provide competitive advantage. But managing partnership between companies is the key to success. Therefore, managing partnership between manufacturer and supplier, and finding causes of conflict are essential to improve B2B performance. In conclusion, based on prior researches and Agency theory, this study will clarify how business hazards cause conflicts on supply chain and then identify how developed conflicts have been managed by two control mechanisms. II. Research model III. Method In order to validate our research model, this study gathered questionnaires from small and medium sized enterprises(SMEs). In Korea, SMEs mean the firms whose employee is under 300 and capital is under 8 billion won(about 7.2 million dollar). We asked the manufacturer's perception about the relationship with the biggest supplier, and our key informants are denied to a person responsible for buying(ex)CEO, executives, managers of purchasing department, and so on). In detail, we contact by telephone to our initial sample(about 1,200 firms) and introduce our research motivation and send our questionnaires by e-mail, mail, and direct survey. Finally we received 361 data and eliminate 32 inappropriate questionnaires. We use 329 manufactures' data on analysis. The purpose of this study is to identify the anticipant role of business hazard (environmental dynamism, asset specificity) and investigate the moderating effect of control mechanism(formal control, social control) on conflict-performance relationship. To find out moderating effect of control methods, we need to compare the regression weight between low versus. high group(about level of exercised control methods). Therefore we choose the structural equation modeling method that is proper to do multi-group analysis. The data analysis is performed by AMOS 17.0 software, and model fits are good statically (CMIN/DF=1.982, p<.000, CFI=.936, IFI=.937, RMSEA=.056). IV. Result V. Discussion Results show that the higher environmental dynamism and asset specificity(on particular supplier) buyer(manufacturer) has, the more B2B conflict exists. And this conflict affect relationship quality and financial outcomes negatively. In addition, social control and formal control could weaken the negative effect of conflict on relationship quality significantly. However, unlikely to assure conflict resolution effect of control mechanisms on relationship quality, financial outcomes are changed by neither social control nor formal control. We could explain this results with the characteristics of our sample, SMEs(Small and Medium sized Enterprises). Financial outcomes of these SMEs(manufacturer or principal) are affected by their customer(usually major company) more easily than their supplier(or agent). And, in recent few years, most of companies have suffered from financial problems because of global economic recession. It means that it is hard to evaluate the contribution of supplier(agent). Therefore we also support the suggestion of Gladstein(1984), Poppo & Zenger(2002) that relational performance variable can capture the focal outcomes of relationship(exchange) better than financial performance variable. This study has some implications that it tests the sources of conflict and investigates the effect of resolution methods of B2B conflict empirically. And, especially, it finds out the significant moderating effect of formal control which past B2B management studies have ignored in Korea.

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A Study on the Application of RTLS Technology for the Automation of Spray-Applied Fire Resistive Covering Work (뿜칠내화피복 작업 자동화시스템을 위한 RTLS 기술 적용에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, Kyoon-Tai
    • Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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    • v.9 no.5
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    • pp.79-86
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    • 2009
  • In a steel structure, spray-applied fire resistive materials are crucial in preventing structural strength from being weakened in the event of a fire. The quality control of such materials, however, is difficult for manual workers, who can frequently be in short supply. These skilled workers are also very likely to be exposed to environmental hazards. Problems with construction work such as this, which are specifically the difficulty of achieving quality control and the dangerous nature of the work itself, can be solved to some degree by the introduction of automated equipment. It is, however, very difficult to automate the work process, from operation to the selection of a location for the equipment, as the environment of a construction site has not yet been structured to accommodate automation. This is a fundamental study on the possibility of the automation of spray-applied fire resistive coating work. In this study, the linkability of the cutting-edge RTLS to an automation system is reviewed, and a scenario for the automation of spray-applied fire resistive coating work and system composition is presented. The system suggested in this study is still in a conceptual stage, and as such, there are many restrictions still to be resolved. Despite this fact, automation is expected to have good effectiveness in terms of preventing fire from spreading by maintaining a certain level of strength at a high temperature when a fire occurs, as it maintains the thickness of the fire-resistive coating at a specified level, and secures the integrity of the coating with the steel structure, thereby enhancing the fire-resistive performance. It also expected that if future research is conducted in this area in relation to a cutting-edge monitoring TRS, such as the ubiquitous sensor network (USN) and/or building information model (BIM), it will contribute to raising the level of construction automation in Korea, reducing costs through the systematic and efficient management of construction resources, shortening construction periods, and implementing more precise construction

Selection of Filamentous Cyanobacteria and Optimization of Culture Condition for Recycling Waste Nutrient Solution (폐양액 활용을 위한 Filamentous Cyanobacteria의 선발 및 최적배양)

  • Yang, Jin-Chul;Chung, Hee-Kyung;Lee, Hyoung-Seok;Choi, Seung-Ju;Yun, Sang-Soon;Ahn, Ki-Sup;Sa, Tong-Min
    • Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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    • v.37 no.3
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    • pp.177-183
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    • 2004
  • The discharge of waste nutrient solution from greenhouse to natural ecosystem leads to the accumulation of excess nutrients that results in contamination or eutrophication. There is a need to recycle the waste nutrient solution in order to prevent the environmental hazards. The amount and kind of nutrients in waste nutrient solution might be enough to grow photosynthetic microorganisms. Hence in the present study, we examined the growth and mass cultivation of cyanobacteria in the waste nutrient solution with an objective of removing N and P and concomitantly, its mass cultivation. Four photosynthetic filamentous cyanobacteria (Anabaena HA101, HA701 and Nostoc HN601, HN701) isolated from composts and soils of the Chungnam province were used as culture strains. Among the isolates, Nostoc HN601 performed faster growth rate and higher N and P uptake in the BG-II ($NO_3{^-}$) medium when compared to those of other cyanobacterial strains. Finally, the selected isolate was tested under optimum conditions (airflow at the rate of $1L\;min^{-1}$. in 15 L reactor, initial pH 8) in waste nutrient solution from tomato hydroponic in green house condition. Results showed to remove 100% phosphate from the waste nutrient solution in the tomato hydroponics recorded over a period of 7 days. The growth rate of Nostoc HN601 was $16mg\;Chl-a\;L^{-1}$ in the waste nutrient solution from tomato hydroponics with optimum condition, whereas growth rate of Nostoc HN601 was only $9.8mg\;Chl-a\;L^{-1}$ in BG-11 media. Nitrogen fixing capacity of Nostoc HN601 was $20.9nmol\;C_2H_4\;mg^{-1}\;Chl-a\;h^{-1}$ in N-free BG-11. The total nitrogen and total phosphate concentration of Nostoc HN601 were 63.3 mg N gram dry weight $(GDW)^{-1}$ and $19.1mg\;P\;GDW^{-1}$ respectively. Collectively, cyanobacterial mass production using waste nutrient solution under green house condition might be suitable for recycling and cleaning of waste nutrient solution from hydroponic culture system. Biomass of cyanobacteria, cultivated in waste nutrient solution, could be used as biofertilizer.

An Approach to Enhance the Unfair Area in the Rural Landscape (농촌 조건불리지역의 경관개선을 위한 접근)

  • Jang, Gab-Sue;Park, In-Hwan
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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    • v.36 no.2
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    • pp.60-68
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    • 2008
  • Three land-use limitations including water hazard, soil erosion and fallow potential were evaluated to define an unfair area. Landscape indices in the unfair areas, defined by evaluations before and after landscape enhancement, were computed by Fragstats v3.3 and compared in order to propose a landscape enhancement plan. The results are as follows: First, as a result of the land evaluation, 388.56ha was analyzed for the 1st class(S1), 623.25ha for the 2nd class(S2), 138.08ha(S3s: 82.47ha, S3e: 51.88ha) for the 3rd class(S3), 230.44ha(N1w: 194.91ha, N1e: 23.09ha, N1es: 13.94ha) for the 4th class(N1), and 67.91ha(N2w: 60. 89ha, N2es: 7.02ha) for the 5th class(N2). The classes under the 3rd class(including the 3rd class) were determined as an unfair area, and proposed landscape enhancement for them. Second, it was proposed that unfair areas with potential water hazards(N1 w, N2w) be restored as a wetland and buffer zone. At this point, the farmers owning these fields could be compensated using the direct payment for landscape conservation(DPLC). Areas witha relatively lower slope(S3e) or a steep slope(N1e) containing soil erodibility potential were proposed to be restored as a sod-culture-applied field and substitute vegetation or potentially natural vegetation, respectively. The unfair areas having fallow potential(S3s, N1es, N2es) were proposed to apply special use crops for the S3s fields, native plants for the N1es fields, and intended fallow for the N2es fields. Third, after landscape enhancement, theforest had higher values in the indices of NP, PLAND, LSI, IJI, and TCA, while paddy and upland had lower values in most indices except NP and LSI. The forest patches increased and were more plentiful with their restoration and had much greater possibility to join with nearby patches. With continued restoration, forest patches will have a large core area and small number of patches due to the conglomeration of patches, which positively influences the species of diversity in the forest patches.

Fear of Falling and Related Factors in Elderly Living Alone Based on Fall Experience (독거여성노인의 낙상경험에 따른 낙상두려움과 관련요인)

  • Lee, Myungsuk;Lee, Yunbok
    • Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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    • v.38 no.4
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    • pp.243-256
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    • 2013
  • Objectives: This study was to investigate fear of falling and related factors in elderly living alone based on fall experience. Methods: Participants were 404 elderly women(faller=148, non-faller=256) over 65 years who were homebound living alone in Jeollanam-do Province. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using questionnaires from April $23^{th}$ to June $9^{th}$ 2013. The questionnaires consisted of demographic variables, fall experience, Fear of falling questionnaire(FOFQ), Falls Efficacy Scale(FES) and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression(CES-D). The collected data were analyzed using the SPSS version 14.0. Results: The fear of falling and the influential factors were different according to fall experience. Regression model for fear of falling in fallers significantly accounted for 46.1%(F=6.71, p<0.001); difficulty of performing activity, depression, fall-efficacy, static balance and assistive devices. Regression model for fear of falling in non-fallers significantly accounted for 55.2%(F=15.16, p<0.001); fall-efficacy, environmental hazards, difficulty of performing activity, risk of nutrition, housing type, dizziness and assistive devices. Conclusion: Results demonstrate that fall is an important health problem for elderly women living alone, and show fall experience for factors influencing fear of falling. These results could be used in the developing fall prevention programs.

Soil Characteristics according to the Geological Condition of Soil Slopes in Landslide Area (산사태지역 토층사면의 지질조건별 토질특성)

  • Kim, Kyeong-Su
    • The Journal of Engineering Geology
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    • v.16 no.4 s.50
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    • pp.359-371
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    • 2006
  • In this study, the soil characteristics are analyzed using the result of various soil tests as an object of the soil layer of natural slopes in landslides areas composed with gneiss, granite, and the tertiary sedimentary rock. To investigate the soil characteristics according to landslide and non landslide areas, soils are sampled from Jangheung, Sangju and Pohang. The landslides at three areas are occurred due to heavy rainfall in same time. The geology of Jangheung area, Sangju area and Pohang area is gneiss, granite, and the tertiary sedimentary rock, respectively. On the basis of the landslide data and the result of soil test, the soil characteristics at the landslide area and the differentiation between landslide area and non landslide area are analyzed. However soil characteristics have a little differentiation to geological condition, the uniformity coefficient and the coefficient of gradation of soils at the landslide area is larger than those of soils at the non landslide area. Also, the proportion of fine particle of soils at the landslide area is higher. The plastic limit of soils sampled from the granite and the sedimentary rock regions is larger than that sampled from the gneiss region. However the liquid limit is irrelevant to the geological condition. Also, the consistency of soils at the landslide area is smaller. The natural moisture content of soils in the sedimentary rock regions is larger than that of the granite and gneiss. It is mainly influenced by mineral composition, soil layer structure, weathering condition, and so on. The soils sampled from landslide area have higher porosity and lower density than those from non landslide area. It means that the soils of landslide area have poor particle size distribution and loose density. Therefore, the terrain slope with poor distribution and loose density is vulnerable to occur in landslides. Also, landslides are occurred in the terrain slope with high permeability. The permeability is mainly influenced by the soil characteristics such as particle size distribution, porosity, particle structure, and the geological origins such as weathering, sedimentary environment. Meanwhile, the shear strength of soils is little difference according to the geological condition. But, the internal friction angle of soils sampled from the landslide area is lower than that of soils from the non landslide area. Therefore, the terrain slope with low internal friction angle is more vulnerable to the landslide.

Acidification of Pig Slurry with Sugar for Reducing Methane Emission during Storage (메탄 배출 저감을 위한 설탕을 이용한 돈 슬러리의 산성화)

  • Im, Seongwon;Oh, Sae-Eun;Hong, Do-giy;Kim, Dong-Hoon
    • Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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    • v.27 no.3
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    • pp.81-89
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    • 2019
  • The major problem encountered during the storage of pig slurry (PS) is the release of huge amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs), which are dominated by methane ($CH_4$). To reduce this, concentrated sulfuric acid has been used as an additive to control the pH of pig slurry to 5.0-6.0. However, other low-risk substitutes have been developed due to some limitations to its use, such as corrosiveness, and hazards to animal and human health. In this study, sugar addition was proposed as an eco-friendly approach for limiting $CH_4$ emission from PS during storage. The pH of PS has been reduced from $7.1{\pm}0.1$ (control) to $5.8{\pm}0.1$, $4.6{\pm}0.1$, $4.4{\pm}0.1$, $4.1{\pm}0.1$, and $4.0{\pm}0.1$, by the addition of 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 g sugar/L, respectively. Lactate, acetate, and propionate were detected as the dominant organic acids and at sugar concentration above 20 g/L, lactate concentration represented 42-72% (COD basis) of total organic acids. For 40 d of storage, $20.6{\pm}2.3kg\;CO_2\;eq./ton\;PS$ was emitted in the control. Such emission, however, was found to be reduced to $8.7{\pm}0.4$ and $0.4{\pm}0.1kg\;CO_2\;eq./ton\;PS$ at 10 and 20 g/L, respectively. Small amount of $CH_4$ from PS at 10 g/L was emitted until 30 d of storage, while for rest of storage period, it has increased to $8.7{\pm}0.4kg\;CO_2\;eq./ton\;PS$ ( 40% of the control) when methanogens have recovered by increasing pH to 7.0. By the end of storage, VS and COD removal in the control reached 24% and 27%, while their ranges reached 15-4% and 12-17% in the sugar added experiments, respectively. It was found that more than 90% of COD removal was done by aerobic biological process.

Global Rice Production, Consumption and Trade: Trends and Future Directions

  • Bhandari, Humnath
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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    • 2019.09a
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    • pp.5-5
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    • 2019
  • The objectives of this paper are (i) to analyze past trends and future directions of rice production, consumption and trade across the world and (ii) to discuss emerging challenges and future directions in the global rice industry. Rice is a staple food of over half of the world's 7.7 billion people. It is an important economic, social, political, and cultural commodity in most Asian countries. Rice is the $1^{st}$ most widely consumed, $2^{nd}$ largely produced, and $3^{rd}$ most widely grown food crop in the world. It was cultivated by 144 million farms in over 100 countries with harvested area of over 163 million ha producing about 745 million tons paddy in 2018. About 90% of the total rice is produced in Asia. China and India, the biggest rice producers, account for over half of the world's rice production. Between 1960 and 2018, world rice production increased over threefold from 221 to 745 million tons (2.1% per year) due to area expansion from 120 to 163 million ha (0.5% per year) and paddy yield increase from 1.8 to 4.6 t/ha (1.6% per year). The Green Revolution led massive increase in rice production prevented famines, provided food for millions of people, reduced poverty and hunger, and improved livelihoods of millions of Asians. The future increase in rice production must come from yield increase as the scope for area expansion is limited. Rice is the most widely consumed food crop. The world's average per capita milled rice consumption is 64 kilograms providing 19% of daily calories. Asia accounted for 84% of global consumption followed by Africa (7%), South America (3%), and the Middle East (2%). Asia's per capita rice consumption is 100 kilograms per year providing 28% of daily calories. The global and Asian per capita consumption increased from the 1960s to the 1990s but stable afterward. The per capita rice consumption is expected to decline in Asia but increase outside Asia especially in Africa in the future. The total milled rice consumption was about 490 million tons in 2018 and projected to reach 550 million tons by 2030 and 590 million tons by 2040. Rice is thinly traded in international market because it is a highly protected commodity. Only about 9% of the total production is traded in global rice market. However, the volume of global rice trade has increased over six-fold from 7.5 to 46.5 million tons between the 1960s and 2018. A relatively small number of exporting countries interact with a large number of importing countries. The top five rice exporting countries are India, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, and China accounting for 74% of the global rice export. The top five rice importing countries are China, Philippines, Nigeria, European Union and Saudi Arabia accounting for 26% of the global rice import. Within rice varieties, Japonica rice accounts for the highest share of the global rice trade (about 12%) followed by Basmati rice (about 10%). The high concentration of exports to a few countries makes international rice market vulnerable to supply disruptions in exporting countries, leading to higher world prices of rice. The export price of Thai 5% broken rice increased from 198 US$/ton in 2000 to 421 US$/ton in 2018. The volumes of trade and rice prices in the global market are expected to increase in the future. The major future challenges of the rice industry are increasing demand due to population growth, rising demand in Africa, economic growth and diet diversification, competition for natural resources (land and water), labor scarcity, climate change and natural hazards, poverty and inequality, hunger and malnutrition, urbanization, low income in rice farming, yield saturation, aging of farmers, feminization of agriculture, health and environmental concerns, improving value chains, and shifting donor priorities away from agriculture. At the same time, new opportunities are available due to access to new technologies, increased investment by the private sector, and increased global partnership. More investment in rice research and development is needed to develop and disseminate innovative technologies and practices to overcome problems and ensure food and nutrition security of the future population.

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