USDA’s experience proved that it is necessary to have a focal institution for gathering information (collecting database on crop production, stock and consumption information, trade market and prices, weather condition…), and analyzing developments that affect the commodity sector. Within USDA, the Interagency Commodity Estimates Committee (ICEC) (under World Agricultural Outlook Board) serves as such a focal point. IPSARD’s expert team has met and exchanged experience about collecting and analyzing rice market information with expert team of the Interagency Commodity Estimates Committee (ICEC) and 5 different agencies involved in collecting data of USDA.

IPSARD’s expert team worked for studying about operating mechanism in rice market chain of Arkansas -The leading rice state in the United States. In Arkansas, the agricultural sector is capital intensive: there are few farmers, and heavy investment in machinery. There are only 2-3 farmers in a farm, average cultivated area is about 3,000 acres (equal to 1,200 hectares). To implement production with such large area, farmer consumes seeds, fertilizer, pesticide provided by a seed company. The seed company doesn’t charge farmer to send agricultural technical experts to visit the farm weekly, to control the situation of crop’s growing, recognize crop diseases and offer their solutions every week. About 60% of Arkansas farmer have joined Riceland Food, which is a farmer cooperative firm. Riceland is the world's largest miller and marketer of rice. Riceland provides marketing services for rice, soybeans and wheat grown by its 9,000 farmer-members in Arkansas and some other states. Arkansas Rice Research and Extension Center does research work under contract with farmers. Farmers will pay and use their research results. The Riceland Food and the Center closely cooperate with each other in testing the quality of milled rice grown from researching new seeds

Information Center learnt and accumulated experience about rice market from the trip. From March of 2007, Information Center for Agriculture and Rural Development regularly publishes "Weekly News of Vietnam Rice Market" (VietRice weekly) in both Vietnamese and English. The bulletin attracted more and more readers which are from food related companies as well as rice market related organizations (Industrial and Commercial Bank of Vietnam, Agriculture Bank of Vietnam), domestic and international organizations of information communications (Radio the Voice of Vietnam, Dow Jones in Vietnam), and other international organizations (Representative office of Foreign Agriculture Service/ United states Department of Agriculture). When the trip finished, ERS/USDA offers to support IPSARD’s commodity experts to organize and join in a series of field trips to learn about the rice market chain in Vietnam. According to the plan, trips will be arranged in August of 2007 in some provinces in Red River and Mekong Delta. Mr John Dyck – Manage of Emerging Markets Program, Market Analysis and Capacity Building in South-East Asia- proposed to edit English for 10 Bulletin of “Weekly News of Vietnam Rice Market", the purpose is helping AGROINFO’s rice experts to have professional and international standard bulletin.