Yields from the ongoing U.S. apple harvest are proving robust in the states of Michigan (MI) and New York (NY). Both states rank among the top 3 apple-producing regions of the United States after Washington, hence the importance of their seasonal crop. Apples in the Big Apple New York is already seeing orchards offering “you-pick” services,...
An Israeli firm is pioneering lab-cultivated cocoa beans, the first such move outside the tropics. The company, Celleste Bio, says that it can now grow the beans to maturity without pods in a week’s time. According to the company’s CEO M. Beressi Golomb, the cocoa grows on a bioreactor, which has become a virtual “forest.” This...
The use of climate-smart nuclear technology has improved rice production in Asia by at least 176% in six trial nations. This is courtesy of the Atoms4Food program by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IEEA) in partnership with UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). The two bodies atomic program combines organic and chemical means to improve...
End August 2024 has redefined the cocoa sector in Ghana through a historical self-financing intention and a price tripling demand by farmers. An announcement on self-financing rather than relying on syndicated loans has arguably been the defining story for the sector. On August 23, the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) promised to stop high interest international loan requests, a first...
The Commonwealth of Virginia has begun its statewide ginseng harvest September 1, 2024, apart from within state forests. At the same time, North Carolina has extended its 3-year “pause” in harvesting of the resource in its wetlands. This comes a week after nearby West Virginia kick-started the U.S. ginseng season by issuing seasonal root-gathering permits. Rules in...
A California Air Resources Board (CARB)’s amendment is about to cap canola biodiesel at 20% of all biofuel output per producer. On August 27, CARB closed public commentary on the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) proposal. Among the proposal’s amendments awaiting a November 8, 2024 final hearing is one for reducing canola renewable energy production per company....
South Africa is at a potato supply crossroads after a late July 2024 frost affected the keynote Limpopo crop. Despite a followup price rally as a result, insiders believe this could affect national reserves by only a minor margin. According to a survey report by Potatoes SA, 2024 reserves will end up being just 3% less than the 2019-23...
Avocados from Michoacán in western Mexico could prove quite sustainable soon, as an origin certification program begins August 28, 2024. Notably, this comes barely two months after a June 2024 routine avocado inspection exercise by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). For the current certification, certificates will only go to farmers who grow their fruits on land...
New rice varieties (Oryza sativa) could solve Japan’s difficult rice dilemma following a 2023 drought that cut 2024’s stocks to 25-year lows. Private rice reserves have declined to 1.56 million tonnes, the lowest since 1999, per Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture via Reuters. The 2023 summer proved hard on northern paddy fields, leaving countrywide shortage of the sushi-making cereal. Analysts...
Iraqi-Syrian agricultural ties could improve after a bilateral meeting in Damascus, Syria on August 25, 2024 outlined regional agronomic cooperation. Since 2022, the existing four-nation agreement with Jordan and Lebanon has been seeking to streamline regional agricultural systems. Its focus has been in animal quarantine, certificates of origin unification and agricultural trade duty reduction on crops such...