Author: Timothy Wahome (Timothy Wahome)

Coprinopsis pulchricaerulea, related to new variant C. cinerea
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New edible mushroom discovery holds promise for India’s culinary scene

Following the April 2, 2024 announcement of the discovery of a new variant of Coprinopsis cinerea, an edible mushroom in India, focus has shifted to identifying its culinary potential. Researchers at ICAR-Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPRI) first spotted the mushroom thriving on the husk of an arecanut. Since that discovery, Harish Rai Derla, a farmer from Puttur in Karnataka has become the first to cultivate the...

calçots onions
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Calçot onion harvest in full swing in Valls, Spain

The November to May calçot onion harvest in Spain is in full harvest mode in Valls, the onion’s original hometown.  The Taragona township is basking in its famous onion riches despite Spain experiencing one of its worst droughts in two centuries. Valls produces 10% of some 55 million nationwide calçot shoots, of which the bulk grows in the native Catalonia region....

seaweed farm in South Korea
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South Korea’s agricultural exports notch up 3.4% in Q1, 2024

South Korea’s agricultural export value for farm produce and food products has risen by 3.4% in 12 months ending Q1, 2024, to $2.27 billion. Data by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs links the improvement to high export growth to Western destinations. Shipments to the U.S. grew by 14.2%, to $352 million while those...

Potatoes
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Is potato a grain? U.S. Senate defends the tuber’s vegetable status

The common potato may soon reclassify as a grain if the U.S. Senate fails to defend its waning vegetable status. It may be the number one food for the average American, who consumes 49.4 pounds of potatoes per year, but classifiers call it starchy. Hence, it may soon earn an infamous inclusion in the grain section of the oncoming...

Wines from Australia
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China ends 36-month punitive tariff on Australia’s wine

Seven months after lifting Aussie barley tariffs, China on March 28, 2024 ended a longstanding punitive tariff on Australia’s wine imports. This follows an understanding that Australia has enforced anti-dumping measures that will prevent unchecked flow of wine to China. Dumping overshadowed a 0% wine import duty provision of 2015, which had given Australia a 14% tariff advantage...

Philippines' dairy product
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Philippines partners Czech republic in dairy technology exchanges

The Philippines has partnered with the Czech Republic for agricultural exchanges, ushering a new dawn in bilateral trade especially in dairy production. Talks began during a March tour to Prague by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., with his Department of Agriculture (DA)’s delegation.  A followup visit to Manila by the Czech Republic’s Agriculture Minister Marek Vyborny confirmed three key...

Thailand’s Chanthaburi takes crown as key durian exporter to China
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Thailand’s Chanthaburi takes crown as key durian exporter to China

As the durian season starts this April, Chanthaburi province in eastern Thailand is bracing to be the number 1 supplier to China. With its capacity to produce 500,000 tonnes of durian per year, Chanthaburi’s export potential has drawn the government’s notice. On March 26, Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce started a campaign to market the province’s number one...

Agricultural cargo
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Falling Japan’s Yen to make American agricultural exports expensive 

Exports of U.S.’ beef, pork and green vegetables to the Far-east may become expensive amid the weakening of Japan’s yen. The currency of the world’s number 3 economy lapsed to 151.30 against the dollar on March 28, the lowest since 2022.  Central Bank of Japan puts the blame on its own reduction of interest rates to bolster the economy. The...

Lobster
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Off-season lobster Easter brunches happening in Louisiana & NSW

Two seafood territories on different sides of the world are in for off-season lobster Easter brunches amid rising prices.  New South Wales in Australia may not see its lobster season until July, same with Louisiana in the U.S, but they are both well-supplied. Louisiana’s Lobster Price to Rise by $1   Just a month before the lobster...

Borderline agriculture braving alternatives after Maryland bridge collapse
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Borderline agriculture braving alternatives after Maryland bridge collapse

12 days after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, borderline agriculture logistics have been running on alternatives. The March 16 accident occurred when a container ship from Singapore lost power and bumped onto the bridge’s pillars. Since then, shipping lines have been diverting to other east coast ports. Backlogging and...