Connecticut’s Attorney General William Tong has launched an inquiry into “food price gouging” among Connecticut grocers after a federal report exposé. This comes two months after President Joe Biden pressured American groceries to lower prices amid falling production costs. In its part, the Connecticut AG’s office announced on April 11, 2024 that families “are getting squeezed” by a persistent rise in food...
Utah’s rainbow trout season starts on abundant note
The 2024 rainbow trout season in Utah is registering a “higher than normal” abundance due to restocking and favorable weather. Reports by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) show that walleye trout in local reservoirs already measure 16 inches long. This indicates that the fish have grown half a dozen inches since their release into ponds 12 months ago....
India’s mango market at Indore registers 20% price gain
Indore, the processing capital of India’a mangoes has registered a 20% retail price markup in a low-supplied seasonal start. But this is most likely a temporarily phase as India expects a 14% jump in mango production in the 2023-24 season, ending June. For now however, traders in Indore in Central India who usually receive the very first southern dispatches are ruing quantity imbalance. They cited...
California’s farmers tap Agrovoltaics on the sidelines of 2024 solar eclipse
As the solar eclipse sweeps across North America on April 8, grapes-endowed Kern County in California looks to agrovoltaics to boost farm production and renewable energy. Though currently enjoying only small-scale photovoltaic solar panel projects, the county has been thinking large-scale for over 6 months. Since fall 2023, academic centers have been gauging the viability of solar investments, partially to improve sustainable farming....
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 mushroom. So far, Derla has...
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. But Valls still holds the...
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 to Europe soared by 27.4%,...
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 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans...
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 over rivals. Six years later,...
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 areas of co-operation. These included dairy...