Canada Pushing For Biotech Changes – for Sep. 23, 2010

Canada is pushing international organizations and trading partners to accept low level levels of genetic engineering in crop shipments and adopt science-based trading rules, says Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. Speaking to reporters from New Delhi, India, near the end of a country trade mission, he said he repeatedly raises the issue because of problems Canadian



Alfalfa Keeps Water At Bay

“If we have our soils conditioned to where they have increased organic matter, increased water storage and increased infiltration, that may be very important in the future.” – LINDSAY COULTHARD Asoaker of a summer has left farmers with one more reason to love alfalfa. An unforeseen benefit has surfaced at the Manitoba Zero Tillage Research

FAO Website To Track Wheat Fungus

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization said it had launched a website to track and help prevent the global spread of wheat stem rusts including Ug99, a devastating strain that poses a global threat to production. About 90 per cent of wheat varieties around the world lack resistance to the deadly wind-borne fungus that destroys


FAO Sees Bigger 2010 Grain Crops, Price Pressure

World cereals output is expected to rise this year to near-record highs, swelling overall supplies and putting pressure on already weakened prices, the UN’s food agency said June 3. The global wheat output is forecast to fall for the third consecutive year, but at 676.5 million tonnes it would still be close to 2008 record

FAO On Disease Alert

The global threat from the animal sickness foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has increased after recent outbreaks in Japan and South Korea, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said April 28. “We … have to ask ourselves if we aren’t facing a possible replay of the disastrous 2001 FMD transcontinental epidemic which spread to South


Agriculture Can Meet Long-Term Food Demand

Agriculture has the scope to meet soaring global demand for food by exploiting potential for higher yields and expanded farmland in certain regions, a Societe Generale analyst told Reuters March 18. Achieving large gains in farm output would however take several years and this time lag could bring renewed tensions in food supply in the

OECD Agree To Reinvest In Food Chain

“Some fluctuations are normal (but) these wild swings are unacceptable.” – NIKOLAUS BERLAKOVICH Farm ministers from the world’s richest countries said Feb. 27 they would study price volatility and look at ways of boosting innovation as part of efforts to help agriculture meet food and environmental challenges. But the gathering of members of the Organization


Food Prices To Remain High

“If we get a climate shock in one of the major producing countries, then we are back to Square 1.” – JACQUES DIOUF Food prices are likely to rise again on resumed demand for agricultural commodities for food and energy and higher input costs due to rising oil prices, the United Nations’ food agency said

World Meat Demand Growing

REGION PER CAPITA MEAT CONSUMPTION (KG/PERSON/YEAR) East and South Asia and the Pacific Latin America and the Caribbean North America and Europe Sub-Saharan Africa * Following is a table with projections of meat consumption in different regions: Central and West Asia and North Africa 2050 33 51 77 89 22 2020 20 28 58 83