India reduces import tariffs on U.S. turkey and duck meat
In the second breakthrough in three months, India said on the sidelines of the G20 summit meeting that it would reduce import duties on frozen U.S. turkey and duck meat. Lower tariffs will give U.S. exports a chance to win sales in the rapidly growing market, said U.S. poultry groups, while calling for India to open its market further.
Global rice price soars to 15-year high
The monthly Food Price Index, which measures international prices for a basket of food commodities, fell for the seventh time this year despite a nearly 10 percent surge in rice prices, said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Rice prices are at a 15-year high because of India's decision to restrict exports of non-basmati white rice.
India is playing games with world rice supply, says U.S. industry
The U.S. rice industry sharply criticized India, the world's largest rice exporter, for cutting off three-quarters of its overseas shipments. "This is another example of India playing games with global food security," said Bobby Hanks, a Louisiana rice miller and a USA Rice Federation official on Monday.
India removes tariffs on a range of U.S. farm exports
As a sign of partnership, India will remove retaliatory tariffs on U.S. apples, chickpeas, lentils, almonds, and walnuts, said U.S. trade representative Katherine Tai on Thursday, The decision was announced as part of a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington.
India is challenged at WTO over rice and wheat subsidies
Some of the world’s agricultural powerhouses accused India on Thursday of violating world trade rules through exorbitant subsidies for its wheat and rice farmers. India was the ninth-largest farm exporter in the world in 2020, but its success was built on subsidized production, said Australia, Canada, Paraguay, Thailand, Ukraine, and the United States in a WTO filing.
U.S. will not allow endless negotiations on GMO corn, says Tai
With a corn-state senator demanding speedy action, U.S. trade representative Katherine Tai said on Thursday that she would not allow a dispute with Mexico over genetically modified corn “to go on indefinitely.” A 30-day period for technical consultations between the nations, arguably the last chance to avert a USMCA trade complaint, expires on April 7.
Global corn trade tightens as Argentine, U.S. exports dip
Drought in Argentina and lackluster sales in the United States, two of the world’s major suppliers, will reduce global corn exports to their lowest volume in three years, said USDA analysts on Wednesday. Shipments from another leading source, Ukraine, were in question because an extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative past March 18 has not been resolved.
How a broken village became a model for ending India’s farmer suicide crisis
In the 1980s, "Hiware Bazar, a village tucked deep inside the western Indian state of Maharashtra. Back then, the hamlet was a crime-ridden backwater, desperately poor and largely abandoned by government agencies," writes Puja Changoiwala in FERN's latest story, published with Grist.
Global demand for biofuels to slow in decade ahead, says forecast
Corn will become less important and sugarcane will become the dominant feedstock for making ethanol in the coming decade, said an agricultural outlook published jointly by the OECD and FAO on Wednesday. The report forecast a relatively slow growth rate for biofuels, averaging 0.6 percent a year worldwide, with growth in the United States constrained by declining gasoline consumption.
As heat wave scorches India, global wheat outlook tightens
The world wheat crop is trending downward, due to a brutal heat wave in India and dry weather in Spain and France, said the Agriculture Department in its monthly WASDE report. Although Russia is expected to sharply increase its exports, more than 12 million tonnes of wheat would be liquidated from global stockpiles over the next year in the face of unrelenting demand for food.
India agrees to allow imports of U.S. pork
After years of U.S. prodding, India has agreed to allow imports of U.S. pork and pork products, said the Biden administration on Monday. Despite being the second-most populous nation on earth, India imports small amounts of pork at present, but U.S. farm groups believe there is great potential for sales.
War to cut Ukraine and Russia wheat exports by 12 percent
The Russian invasion of Ukraine will slash wheat exports from the countries by a combined 12 percent, said the Agriculture Department on Wednesday in an initial assessment of the short-term impact of the war. Nations from Europe to Asia and Africa will import somewhat less wheat in coming months in the face of higher prices and reduced supplies from the Black Sea region, it said.
With UAW on strike, Deere says, ‘We’ll keep running’
The world's largest farm equipment maker, Deere and Co., said managers and other salaried employees would keep its factories operating in the face of a strike by 10,000 union workers. "We'll keep running," the company said on Thursday.
U.S. ends organic recognition agreement with India
Organic producers in India have six months to gain certification with a USDA-accredited certifying agent, said the USDA on Monday in announcing the termination of an organic recognition agreement dating from 2006. “We need a more active oversight presence in India to more directly protect …
Global glut of palm oil adds to India’s health woes
Rates of obesity, diabetes and other diet-related diseases have soared in India and other developing countries in recent years, coinciding with a flood of cheap palm oil that is used in everything from processed snacks and fast food to traditional foods like samosas and poori, according to the latest story from FERN, published with The Nation. No paywall
Climate change puts more than a billion people at risk of iron deficiency
Rising levels of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will reduce the amount of nutrients in staple crops such as rice and wheat, say researchers at Harvard's public health school. As a consequence, more than 1 billion women and children would lose a large amount of their dietary iron intake and be at larger risk of anemia and other diseases.
In novel filing, U.S. says India grossly over-subsidizes wheat and rice production
It is clear that India violates WTO limits on trade-distorting farm subsidies, said the Trump administration on Wednesday in announcing a “counter-notification” that could be the first step to a formal challenge of India’s wheat and rice subsidies.
Greenhouse-gas emissions again on the rise
Global climate emissions are on the rise again, after staying relatively flat between 2014-2016. Researchers with the Global Carbon Project predict that emissions levels will increase anywhere from 0.8 to 3 percent in 2017, says NPR.
‘Golden rice’ advances in Philippines, hits pothole in India
Philippines officials are considering a request for a biosafety permit for so-called golden rice, which would allow use of the vitamin A-enriched GMO rice as food or feed and for processing, says the Cornell Alliance for Science. The biosafety permit would allow researchers to conduct human nutrition studies, the alliance said during the summer, and an application to allow cultivation of the rice in the Philippines "will be submitted in the future."