China on April 7, 2025 launched an ambitious three-stage agricultural plan that will make rural areas modern by the mid-century. With it, the Central Committee of the Communist Party aims to boost productivity and farmers’ earnings through technology, mechanization and pricing. Once realized, the “strong agriculture” plan will have overcome currently predominant small-scale farming and transform...
New Zealand’s fruit exporters are seizing the moment amid robust kiwifruit production and tight apple supplies set adrift unrelenting demand. According to the national export agency Zespri, apple prices remain impressive due to tight supplies against overwhelming demand. Shipments will however increase gradually as the generally 11-week apple harvest begins later in April through mid-May. Also...
Namibia and the Maghreb expect possible locust swarms later in 2025 and are preparing digitally and mechanically. The cabinet of Namibia convened in early April 2025 to discuss potential outbreaks of pests including locusts that echo a 2024 scare. Normal and above-normal rains in strategic farming areas such as the Zambezi have sparked this latest alert. In 2024, minor...
The global food price index broke even in March 2025 through balanced rises in vegetable oils against declines in sugar rates. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s Food Price Index, demand metrics influenced most changes. While all food classes remained put at 127.1 points from February, cereals at 109.7 points and sugar at 116.9 points...
Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) will navigate the 10% beef tariff that the U.S. President Donald Trump announced on April 3, 2024. The equal duty on various Aussie products happened despite speculation by the local beef industry of possible exemption. In a press briefing on April 4, MLA’s MD Michael Crowley however owned to have anticipated the...
A year after China signed agreements that favored lychee imports from Vietnam, the cross-border Hekou port anticipates expansive 2025 trade. Each early summer, the port receives thousands of tonnes of lychees from Vietnam. Back in May 2024 alone, 6,600 tonnes of the fruit passed via the harbor. With its well-developed rail infrastructure and fast custom clearance,...
World agriculture is bracing for tariffs that U.S. President Donald Trump will announce later on April 2, 2025 or “Liberation day.” On March 3, Trump postponed tariffs on “external agriculture product” apart from those from China, to April 2. As the day itself arrives, some countries such as Canada and India have already begun analyzing...
Farming in vertical interiors has made the spotlight after startup Plenty Unlimited lost grip from billions in investments into bankruptcy. With a base in San Francisco, the company plunged into history after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late March 2025. This despite initial investments running into billions of dollars by Jeff Bezos, Eric Schmidt...
Sourced from the world’s end, the expensive Chilean sea bass could get dearer after a federal judge backed a 2022 import ban. Judge David Leibowitz of Florida on April 1, 2025 ruled against Southern Cross Seafoods from Texas which had lodged the anti-ban case in 2022. The United States banned all shipments from a sustainable region...
The European Union (EU) confirmed on March 28, 2025 that farm imports emanating from Ukraine will reduce from June 2025. Christophe Hansen, the EU’s agriculture commissioner, told AFP of significant agricultural import cuts when Ukraine renegotiates an expiring free trade deal. This is in reference to a temporary free trade deal drafted in 2022 at the dawn...