Brazil and Colombia sharply reduce forest loss
With new leaders in office, Brazil and Colombia dramatically reduced their loss of mature tropical forest in 2023, said Global Forest Watch in an annual report on Thursday. Nonetheless, the world’s tropics lost 3.7 million hectares (more than 14,000 square miles) of primary forest. Losses have run at 3 to 4 million hectares annually for the past two decades.
Biofortified corn might mean better nutrition in Colombia
The first corn variety that yields kernels rich in zinc, now available to farmers in Colombia, will combat malnutrition in the South American nation, says a coalition of researchers.
As world gulps more coffee, inventory tightens
The global stockpile of coffee is headed for a five-year low, at less than a three-month supply, thanks to record demand that has driven up coffee prices 31 percent since the start of the year, says a semi-annual USDA forecast. "Global consumption is forecast at a record 153.3 million bags," each weighing 60 kg, says USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service.
Colombia says it will resume spraying coca plants with glyphosate
Colombia will once again use glyphosate to kill coca plants, after banning the practice for the last year due to carcinogenic concerns, reports The Tampa Bay Tribune.
Colombia recovers from coffee rust fungus, others struggle
Colombia, the third-largest coffee grower in the world, will harvest 13 million bags of Arabica beans in the coming season, its largest crop in two decades.
Coffee output rises in countries battling rust fungus
Coffee production is on the rise in Colombia and Central America, where growers battle the rust fungus, said USDA in its Coffee: World Markets and Trade report.