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There is a rapid transformation afoot in the rice value chain in Asia. The upstream is changing quickly-farmers are undertaking capital-led intensification and participating in burgeoning markets for land rental, fertilizer and pesticides, irrigation water, and seed, and shifting from subsistence to small commercialized farms; in some areas landholdings are concentrating. Midstream, in wholesale and milling, there is a quiet revolution underway, with thousands of entrepreneurs investing in equipment, increasing scale, diversifying into higher quality, and the segments are undergoing consolidation and vertical coordination and integration. Mills, especially in China, are packaging and branding, and building agent networks in wholesale markets, and large mills are building direct relationships with supermarkets. The downstream retail segment is undergoing a 'supermarket revolution,' again with the lead in change in China. In most cases the government is not playing a direct role in the market, but enabling this transformation through infrastructural investment. The transformation appears to be improving food security for cities by reducing margins, offering lower consumer rice prices, and increasing quality and diversity of rice. This paper discusses findings derived from unique stacked surveys of all value chain segments in seven zones, more and less developed, around Bangladesh, China, India, and Vietnam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arsenic exposures contribute significantly to the burden of preventable disease worldwide, specifically related to increased risks of cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Most exposures are associated with natural contamination of groundwater, which is difficult to mitigate when these sources are used for drinking water. An anthropogenic source of arsenic exposure stems from the widespread use of arsenical drugs in food-animal production in the United States and China, among many countries. This use results in residual contamination of food products from animals raised with the drugs, as well as environmental contamination associated with disposal of wastes from these animals. Land disposal of these wastes can contaminate surface and ground water, and the conversion of animal wastes into fertilizer pellets for home use as well as the introduction of animal waste incinerators may increase opportunities for exposure. As an intentional additive to animal feed, use of arsenical drugs is a preventable source of human exposure. The domestic practice of using these drugs in poultry production has been the subject of media attention and limited research, though the use of these drugs in domestic swine production and in the rapidly growing foreign animal production industry remains largely uncharacterized. This continued expansion of arsenical drug use may likely increase the burden of global human arsenic exposure and risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]