Costa Rican egg producers say that they have been mired in a crisis for the past year and half. Their concerns grow out of market prices that are coming in at well below the cost of production. The source of this crisis, they claim, is an excess of unfair competition. One possible explanation is the […]
Japanese scientists attempt to breed caesium radiation resistant rice
24/08/2011 by
Tokyo, Aug 23 (ANI): Japanese scientists are attempting to breed a strain of rice, which is resistant to radioactive caesium, by testing over 100 varieties of the crop. Vast tracts of rice crops in northeast Japan would be destroyed in the upcoming harvest season after being contaminated with radioactivity from the
Bunge sued over biotech corn ban
24/08/2011 by
Syngenta AG (SYNN), the world’s largest maker of agricultural chemicals, sued a unit of Bunge Ltd. (BG) over claims it’s illegally refusing to accept corn produced from the company’s bioengineered seeds. Bunge, which operates a network of grain elevators and receiving stations, posted a notice on its website and at several locations that it is […]
Bulgaria Guarantees Kosovo Wheat Supply
24/08/2011 by
Kosovo and Bulgaria have agreed a new deal over wheat imports which helps shift Pristina’s dependence on Serbian goods. According to a report from the Bulgarian news agency Novinite, Thaci thanked the Bulgarian Minister of Agriculture and Foods Miroslav Naydenov for his country’s “readiness to provide Kosovo with food in the event of a shortage, […]
Most Feared Pest Found in shipment at O’Hare
24/08/2011 by
Customs officials in Chicago have found what they call one of the “most feared” pests in the world in a shipment of rice that came from India, officials announced today. According to a release from the Chicago office of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Khapra beetle was found Aug. 16 at O’Hare International airport […]
Europe’s farmland birds in decline
24/08/2011 by
The birds’ rapid decline in numbers attributed to intensive farming, urbanisation and failure to sustain fragile populations you have never heard the lilting song of the linnet, spotted the distinctive plumage of a goldcrest, or waited for the whirring wings of a grey partridge, it is increasingly unlikely that you ever will. These once common […]
Another ‘Dust Bowl’ era could be starting
19/08/2011 by
This decade thus far has mirrored the 1930s weatherwise and otherwise. It’s the ‘Dust Bowl Days’ and the ‘Great Depression’ resurrected in a new generation of misery. Now, the ‘bad news.’ The southern Great Plains, from Kansas southward into Texas, saw its hottest July on record in 2011. Many wells and reservoirs have run completely […]
Rain delays wheat harvest; damage worries grow
09/08/2011 by
HAMBURG — Repeated rain has delayed wheat harvesting in top European Union producers France and Germany, and dry weather is urgently needed to prevent last-minute damage, traders and analysts said on Tuesday. “We are coming to a real nail-biting finish to the season, with wheat ready on the fields in Germany and France but with […]
In a First, Indonesia May Export Premium Rice to South Korea
09/08/2011 by
Indonesia may export 50,000 tons of premium quality rice to South Korea, the chief economics minister said on Wednesday, making it the first shipment of the grain to the country if the deal goes through. Indonesia’s agriculture ministry added that an export license had been granted to suppliers in South Sulawesi. The South Sulawesi governor […]
UK Growing Its Own Tea, Olives & Hot Peppers As Climate Warms
09/08/2011 by
While by most accounts climate change will have a negative impact on agriculture as a whole, posing an additional challenge in feeding a human population increasing to an estimated 9 billion people over the coming decades, Reuters has an interesting story showing how, at least in some areas, warming will allow novel