South Africa is free of citrus greening disease or huánglóngbíng (HLB) despite recent reports of its spotting in Eastern Cape province, the industry says.  Selina Wamucii got an insider look at the clarification statement by Justin Chadwick, CEO of the Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa. It reads as follows: “HLB (Huanglongbing or Asian Citrus Greening, and sometimes casually referred to as...

Forecasts show that tomato production in Mexico will increase to 3.3 million tonnes in 2024. This at a time when the U.S. market wants to check cross-border “price dumping” of Mexico’s tomatoes through tariffs.  USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) reported on June 4, 2024 that it expects Mexico’s production to increase by 2% over 2023’s 3.22 million tonnes. FAS cited climate change...

Peru’s organic coffee output is to grow by 7% in the 2024-25 season despite leaf rust disease problems. According to USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), production will peak at 4.22 million 60-kg bags, above 2023-24’s 4.2 million bags. Exports will also increase by 6%, to reach 4.07 60-kg million bags, up from 2023-24’s 4.06 million bags. The main drivers of production are the reigning high...

The Saudi livestock and fisheries sectors will bring multi-billion dollar investment returns, according to a June 4, 2024 ministerial statement. Projections peg returns from investments from the two sectors at 20 billion riyals ($5.343 billion) by 2030. This is according to the Undersecretary for Fisheries and Livestock Wealth in the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Dr. Ali Al-Shaikhi. Al-Shaikhi was speaking at...

As winter starts in the southern hemisphere, Australia projects a dream winter pulses harvest especially for two key legumes. Driving production will be lentils at 1.6 million tonnes yield estimate, even as chickpeas could reach 1.1 million tonnes. The gains in the two winter pulses stem from significant yearly acreage increases, at 5% for lentils and 80% for chickpeas.  Chickpeas With an impressive 80%...

Vietnam’s coffee stakeholders have begun tracking 0.5 million small-scale farmers, months before the industry-affecting EU Deforestation-free Regulation (EUDR) materializes.  According to a June 1, 2024 report on The Star Malaysia, Vietnam cannot delay certifications as it exports 40% of its coffee to Europe. Luckily, the country has been promoting sustainable plantation agriculture since August 2023, which means that farmer traceability will be easy....

The 2024 abalone season has kicked off early June on the southeastern seaboard of China in Fujian Province.  Each early summer, the province turns into a hub of activity as fishermen ferry the valuable sea snails to processors.  Abalone is a key summer delicacy which features in multiple Chinese dishes as a sauteé or stew dish. This season, harvesters pine after a repeat...

If reelected, former U.S. President Donald Trump intends to impose 10% worldwide import tariffs in a hard-hitting “Trump 2.0.”-styled term. But first he promises to continue where he stopped in 2020 by slamming 60% or more tariffs on imports from China. These levies will land on the usual suspects like soybeans, pork, vegetable oils, among other agricultural imports. Below is a look at...

Commercial cultivation of “golden rice” in the Philippines has ended after a court revoked a 2021 government permit over biodiversity concerns.  The visually colorful bio-engineered strain is rich in proVitamin A building compounds unlike organic white palay rice. The court of Appeal had first ended the commercial permit on April 17 in favor of small-scale rice growers and environmentalists. In 2021, the Philippines became...