Indonesia faces a crude palm oil (CPO) import challenge if it is to meet its 2045 production goal of 92.4 million tonnes. According to Hadi Sugeng, the Secretary General of the Indonesian Palm Oil Entrepreneurs Association (GAPKI) in a Majalah Hortus report, a 27.1 million-tonne annual deficit looms. Hadi cited 40% or 6.57 million hectares of the country’s oil palm acreage...

The Prince Edward Island (P.E.I).’s lobster wharf prices for the fourth week of June 2024 are down to  $6.50 ($4.75) a pound maximum. This is despite catches on the Atlantic Coast of Canada being at their best yet, near the season’s close. In a CTV report of June 23, 2024, fishermen decried of prices being as low as $6.25 ($4.56) per pound. This situation...

The Virginia cherry season may soon be over but personal George Washington’s cherries live on at his Mount Vernon residence two centuries after the first American president’s death. An archaeological revelation on June 18 showed well-preserved bunches, baffling plant specialists. Archaeologists who have been working on Mount Vernon’s cellar since 2023 found 35 intact glass bottles, two with fresh cherries. Though...

The multi-billion dollar industry of avocados from Mexico is at risk after the United States suspended inspections and mango imports. This follows an attack of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s inspectors by the residents of Aranza in Michoacán state. Though not hurt, the American inspectors could not complete their checking routine in Paracho, Michoacán on June 15, 2024.  Pointedly,...

A new flower AI tool that counts blooms on a tree from a standard camera image could turn tables on accurate yield prediction. Relying only on a common phone’s camera to capture a petal’s angles, textures and sizes, this nameless AI counts even hidden flowers. The tool is a collaboration of the National Robotarium of the UK, two scientific institutes from Chile and...

Ghana’s cocoa supplies for the 2024-25 season could rebound and pressure international futures prices that hit $10,782 on June 18, 2024. On June 18, Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod) forecast a production rebound to 700,000 tonnes from October 2024, onward.  The board cited good weather conditions for the upward supplies, which will redeem poor averages of 500,000 tonnes in recent years.  In actual...

This Iranian wheat summer, the government has rewarded farmers with purchases of 4.4 million tonnes of wheat since April 2024. The Tehran Times reported on June 17, 2024 that 2024 purchases are 200,000 tonnes above those of the April-June 2023 phase. Under a national plan that guarantees buyouts from local wheat growers, the state has already utilized $1.3 billion. According to the...

The 2024 Scotland salmon season has recorded its highest four-month growth since 2019 with a 36% leap, year-on-year. According to Salmon Scotland in its review of HM Revenue and Custom information, salmon exports reached £250 million between January and April 2024. This was £65 million more than in the corresponding first four months of 2023. Meanwhile, yearly salmon shipments improved by 35% while yearly...

A fortnight after the beginning of India’s monsoon, the metrological department reports 20% rain shortfall from June 1 but this won’t affect paddy areas in the south. The weatherman warns that the shortfall is temporary and there is still time for the predicted above-normal monsoon rain. There is one exception however, the south, where rain increased by 17% this season due to an...

Indonesia’s Ministry of Finance reports phenomenal growth in fruit and spice exports in Quarter 1, 2024. According to Majalah Hortus on June 17, 2024, fruit exports reached $262.44 million (4.302 trillion IDR) from January to March 2024, a 65.37% yearly increase. Similarly, spice exports increased to $178.47 million (2.926 trillion IDR), 13.58% above the January-March 2023 postings. The dual results reveal that...