Peru’s Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Juan Carlos Mathews estimated on January 8, 2024 that national exports in 2023 would equal 2022’s. One of these exports is avocados, of which the minister said Peru ranks second worldwide. Mathews’ projections echo a rise by 9% in total avocado exports from January to September 2023 in comparison to...
China on January 18, 2024 allowed the domestic production of several GMO cultivars of corn and soybeans, including single corn and soy imports, apiece. These genetically modified crop approvals are the first steps in a race to fight domestic food security concerns. With an aim to realize 100% self-sufficiency in agricultural production, China’s GMO crop production targets mainly grains and textile....
On January 18, California’s fishermen hauled in their delayed first harvest of Dungeness crabs but they rued the price. Though the Dungeness crab season officially began on January 5, actual fishing took place only this week after a strike in Redwood, CA. The strike by fishermen, which lasted till January 17, was in protest against the...
Cocoa ended January 18 on a higher note after a slump a day earlier occasioned by mixed demand. This is even as prospects of rain in West Africa bring hope of more supplies to curb present tight supplies.. On January 17, cocoa prices in London and New York had lowered amid unpredictable demand blamed on...
A California court has dismissed a 2022 case against a West Coast aquarium for featuring American lobster on its “red list” of species not to eat. This is barely a week after New England’s lobster fishermen dropped the lawsuit to which they had pegged $75,000 in damages. The suit began in September 2022 when Seafood Watch of Monterey Bay Aquarium, California advised against...
Each winter from December to February, orange merchants from a Himalayan village in Paro district, Bhutan, relocate to Tsirang to export the commodity. This usually coincides with a time when oranges in Bhutan are simultaneously maturing in different districts. This season, some 40 exporters from Paro, the seat of Bhutan’s international airport, have come to Tsirang, the commercial...
Vancouver Island and the south-western province of British Columbia (B.C.) in Canada expect freezing rain and snowfall from January 17. The regions are the latest stopping points of a freezing winter storm that is moving from the west. For B.C., the weather change will temper a relatively dry winter, with strong winds bringing precipitation at temperatures...
Florida’s orange production will rebound by 30% to 20.5 million boxes for the 2024 season opener, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). In the grain and crop report on January 12, 2024, USDA predicted increases for all three major citrus fruits including grapefruit and lemon. The rebound draws from reigning fair winter weather in the...
A firm from Germany has invented a robotic avocado line that can pit, halve and peel 1000 avocados (Persea Americana) an hour. Kronen GmBH will unveil its “robot avocado line” at the Fruit Logistica, a showpiece of innovations in the produce industry. The event will start on February 7, 2024 in Berlin. In anticipation, the company explained its peeler-and-cutter...
Nigeria’s economy will experience a 3% growth rate thanks to agriculture, reports World Bank. The country will also recover its pre-Covid19 economic performance in 2025 by improving on the cited rate of growth. The 3% growth margin applies to the 2023-2024 financial year and will emanate from agriculture, construction and trade. By mid-2025, however, these two sectors will...