Farmers globally believe small producers will ‘disappear’ from the agricultural landscape over the next five years, while those remaining will have to contend with tougher regulations and global water shortages, findings suggest.
Current European restrictions on genetically modified (GM) crops could hold back crop innovation needed to ensure food security, claims a UK government-funded research body.
Around 2,000 hectares of agricultural land is lost each day due to the salinity in soil. Could breeding salt-tolerant crops be a new way to sustainable food?
Bio-inoculants impact on agricultural production through improved phosphorus acquisition, novel means of monitoring drought from multi-source satellite data, and looking at diversity and heat treatment resistance of sorghum.
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has launched an appeal for $30m (€23,72m) to support food supply resilience and recovery in the three African countries most affected by the Ebola outbreak, where long-term impacts on food security are...
Australia's wheat export, French share of wheat exports, USDA approves new resistant GM corn, China eases pressure on water crisis, Cargill sues Syngenta Seeds, US miller fined after fatal accident.
Improved sorghum variety evolves in a traditional seed system in Mali, effect of leaf rust and powdery mildew on winter wheat yields, and a look at multifunctional agriculture and social farming in Bulgaria.
Claims around the benefits of no-till agriculture at mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are over-exaggerated and misleading, according to an international group of scientists.
IGC: Indonesia leads flour imports, US farm profits to drop 13.8%, Ebola threatens harvest, CBH withdraws port agreement proposal on ‘conflicting messages’, and IM 9500 approved in three more markets.
Grain growers in the state of Victoria will benefit from a new five year agreement that will increase research and development in their industry, according to the Australian agriculture minister.
The European Union plans to link farm subsidies to environmentally-focused measures which will mean a greater administrative burden for farmers, according to former environment minister Owen Paterson, who announced the policy changes last month.
Crops grown on "land-grabbed" areas in developing countries have the potential to feed an extra 100 million people worldwide, new research has suggested.
Alleviating potassium (K) deficits in China requires an integrated approach of K fertilization and re-planting potassium-rich maize stover, researchers say.
As wheat continues to lose acreage and R&D investment to corn and soybeans, the time has come to support the eventual commercialization of biotech wheat, says the immediate past president of the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG).
The European Commission’s Environmental Council has “broken the deadlock” on GM crop cultivation proposals with a political agreement around how member states can restrict or ban such crop production on their soil.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton applauded the food professionals at FMI Connect for their role in promoting global relations, improving human health, and making the US a stronger nation.
Investigating stripe rust proliferation in Australian wheat, osmotic stress on barley, the role of tillage and crop rotation in weed reduction, and boosting 1RS raises wheat root biomass, not yields.
Coupling cereal crops with complementary legume traits could double the availability of phosphorus in soils and reduce farmers’ dependence on fertilizers, say scientists.
A fund-raising campaign established by a consortium of international crop researchers aims to raise US$100m in five years to support development projects to increase global wheat production by 50% over the next 20 years.
China will continue to maintain a high rate of self-sufficiency in major grain output in order to achieve its food security target over the next decade, according to an official government-backed report.
Global contamination of non-genetically modified (GM) food and feed by GMOs will only increase without clearer policies and a tightening of the regulatory framework, says the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).
Private and public sectors actions must take ‘coordinated and forceful’ actions to help to reduce supply chain waste and change consumer behaviours, say FAO officials.
The contribution of agriculture to Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product was last measured at 2.49% in 2010, according to the World Bank. Moreover, it is set to drop even lower once the country’s cultivation of wheat is phased out by 2016.
Wheat with an elevated resistance to yellow rust disease, analysis of non-biological solutions to aflatoxin contamination, crops that naturally adapt to changing weather conditions, little change in European maize yields as temperatures increase.
M&G Exclusive: Interview with Jennifer Shaw, Syngenta's head of sustainability
The University of Florida will further research to develop drought resistant peanuts – a big need for industry in light of extreme weather conditions, its lead crop physiologist says.
Northumberland Community Futures Development Corporation (CFDC) will head up a food processing facility for fruit and vegetables in Ontario, Canada next year.
In new developments in the highly charged debate over GMOs, General Mills has been targeted in a report blasted by a plant geneticist as “a collection of discredited studies and half-truths”, while the GMA has been slapped with a lawsuit alleging it concealed...
Poor UK harvests and a deregulation of Canada’s grain market has meant that Canadian wheat sales to the UK have increased by 50%, but the UK industry says that need not mean a long term trend.
The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has pledged $4.98m to a project working with new genomics tools to develop drought and heat-tolerant sorghum hybrids and promote sustainable farming in Africa.
By Darrel Webber, secretary general of Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil
Increasing global consumption of palm oil poses serious sustainability challenges and raises questions about leading consumer nations’ responsibility in managing the footprint of its global supply chain.
Asian agri giant and Kellogg’s joint venture partner Wilmar International has defended its palm oil operations and insisted it remains undaunted by the challenge of ensuring a sustainable supply chain.
Interest in quinoa has surged among consumers in Europe and the United States – but the rapid increase in its popularity has also given rise to concerns about sustainable production.
Quinoa’s relatively high price compared to staple grains may restrict consumption to health-conscious consumers in high-income countries for now – but it could play an important role in food security in the long term, according to the FAO.
The Food Corporation of India could potentially earn over Rs25,000 crore (US$4.5bn) by exporting wheat lying in open warehouses, according to an Assocham study.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) must do more to foster coexistence of genetically modified and non-genetically modified crops, the Center for Science in the Public Interest says.
Unilever and Nestlé say Oxfam missed an opportunity for a wider and more comprehensive debate about food ethics after the NGO published a damning report on the supply chains of the world’s biggest food firms this week.
Heatwave conditions from early January and below average rainfall across Australia’s major agricultural regions have resulted in a less than favourable summer cropping season, according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and...
The publication of a new report on GM foods is an opportunity for industry, consumers, and policy makers to put aside the confusion of the past and ‘take a fresh look’ at the evidence for GM safety, according to EuropaBio and the ABC.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has urged greater use of neglected traditional grains, saying that there is global overreliance on just a handful of staple foods.
Demand for cocoa is expected to climb 30% in the next 10 years creating a 25% shortage of current supply, according to North American cocoa processor and chocolate ingredients supplier Blommer Chocolate Company.
