Governmental grants, expertise and a dynamic dietary culture are slowly but surely turning mushroom production in Zambia into an economic miracle.  IPP Media reports that the pioneering efforts of a middle-aged woman, Tomaida Ziwa, have paid off with a maturing market. The 55-year old Ziwa helped capture the imagination of Zambians on the palatability of some mushrooms. In her wake came...

India and Pakistan are each rating their spring wheat forecasts downward on oncoming dry weather patterns on the subcontinent. A Reuters report of February 27, 2025 quoted the India Metrological Department (IMD) stating that March will be “unusually hot.” IMD will release its monthly temperature schedule February 28 but notes that by mid-March certain states can expect above 40ºC. Because...

A sharp Malay coconut shortage fanning unruly prices has prompted imports of over 66,000 of coconuts-in-shell. It all began in May 2024 when Perak on the western coast and the northern peninsula reported coconut yield drops by 80 to 90%. Coconut-reliant recent holidays like the Lunar New Year and Thaipusam have further stoked shortage, spiked prices and upped imports.  Price Kill Prices...

A lag in the ongoing 2024-25 harvest won’t deter Brazil’s soybean crop from tipping the annual production scale.  According to consultancy Pátricia Agronegócios courtesy Grain Central, 27.2% of the reaping was over February 14, 2025, a 10.5% weekly gain but a 3.4% yearly drop.  Though harvesting amid sporadic rain is a throwback to the April 2024 flooded harvest, it is not hampering progress. This is despite the...

Marine biologists have developed a precise satellite monitoring method that could ease lobster population tracking in Western Australia (WA). In a Science of the Total Environment publication, scientists reveal how monitoring seagrass (H.minor) and algae changes could help predict lobster stock. The premise is that rock lobster gather around healthy marine grass habitats. Monitoring changes in these ecologies could therefore easily capture the...

The hitherto premium olive oil price in Spain has lately fallen from the heights of $6 €(5.72) per liter in May 2023. This has enabled supermarkets to be generous by offering gross discounts, even for expensive brands. A normally premium Coosur-branded bottle of olive oil now costs €5.49 ($5.76) per liter or 38% less at Aldi. This is quite a bargain because the oil comes...

The Philippines will export 66,000 tonnes of raw sugar to the United States before April 2025 to siphon off domestic glut. According to the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), the shipments will help stabilize fluctuating domestic prices. Although the American import price is 1,000 pesos ($17.26) below the local 50 kg wholesale price, shipments will still happen. The cheap sale underpins...

Republican Congressmen Daniel Webster and Greg Steube of Florida (Fla) have reintroduced the Citrus Protection Act to restrict commercial imports from China. As representative of The Villages in central Fla, Webster aims to put local agriculture first and stamp out foreign dependancy.  The bill graced the 119th Congress’ 1st session in Washington D.C. on February 18, 2025 and might implement 90 days after...

People in the United States are renting chicken for eggs like there is no tomorrow over bird flu-related egg inflation. Although plant-based eggs abound, Americans are still adamant for the real thing whose prices now average $4.95 a dozen.  Luckily, longterm rental firms have made leasing a backyard layer or two cool and even professional. One of these, Rent The...

Robust coffee demand drove late 2024 auction prices at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) to record 859.40 shillings ($6.60) per kg.  Helpfully, dry weather effect on Brazil’s and Vietnam’s crops rallied international prices to a historic $3.3545 a pound (7.37 per kg).  This strong international price was a windfall for Kenya’s coffee estates, just then beginning their October harvest.  And since that time, NCE...