Crop Production
World must brace for higher food prices, experts say
Aug 18, 2012 23:51 EDT
With drought parching farms in the United States and near the Black Sea, weak monsoon rains in India and insidious hunger in Africa's Sahel region, the world could be headed towards another food crisis, experts say.
UN director presses US to cut biofuel output
Aug 10, 2012 12:47 EDT
The head of the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization urged the United States to halt its biofuel output to prevent a food crisis, in an editorial published by the Financial Times on Friday.
Drought cuts production of major US crops: USDA
Aug 10, 2012 11:38 EDT
The US slashed production estimates Friday for its globally crucial corn and soybean crops, saying the record heat across the country's farm belt had cut expected output to the lowest level in six years.
Drought cuts US corn crop to smallest in 6 years: USDA
Aug 10, 2012 08:55 EDT
The stifling drought in the United States farm belt has cut likely corn production to the lowest level in six years, the US Department of Agriculture reported Friday.
Global food prices rise sharply in July: UN agency
Aug 09, 2012 05:37 EDT
Global food prices rose six percent in July after dropping for three months, largely because of a hike in the price of grains and sugar, the UN Food and Agricultural Organization said Thursday.
UN food agency lowers 2012 global rice forecast
Aug 06, 2012 20:01 EDT
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) revised down its global rice forecast for 2012 on Monday due to low monsoon rainfall in India, but said world output should still be greater than in 2011.
Pakistanis to halt mango exports to US
Aug 06, 2012 14:17 EDT
Pakistanis are abandoning much-publicised mango exports to the United States after just a year because American requirements made profit margins too narrow, members of the industry said Monday.
UN body sends first food aid to flood-hit N.Koreans
Aug 04, 2012 02:25 EDT
The World Food Programme has said it is sending a first shipment of emergency food aid to flood-hit areas of North Korea, where torrential rain has killed scores of people and inundated cropland.
Parched fields as drought devastates US crops
Aug 01, 2012 09:07 EDT
The sweat pours down Larry Hasheider's face as he walks across his parched cornfields to show the result of one of the worst droughts to strike the United States in decades.
Litigation costs prove headache for Bayer
Jul 31, 2012 03:46 EDT
Bayer, the German maker of Aspirin, said litigation costs connected with its Yasmin oral contraceptive hit its bottom line in the second quarter but it remained confident for the full year.
Amid drought, US opens up land for grazing, haying
Jul 23, 2012 14:27 EDT
The Obama administration opened up protected US land to help farmers and ranchers hit by severe drought Monday, and encouraged crop insurance companies to forgo charging interest for a month.
French crusader for gibbons in Borneo jungle
Jul 20, 2012 08:23 EDT
For 15 years Aurelien Brule has lived in the Indonesian jungle, crusading against palm oil multinationals, loggers and corruption in his bid to save endangered gibbons from annihilation.
US drought worst in 25 years: government
Jul 18, 2012 13:12 EDT
The drought scouring farms in the United States' bread basket is the worst for at least 25 years, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Wednesday, after briefing President Barack Obama.
Worst drought in five decades ravages US
Jul 18, 2012 12:59 EDT
Weather forecasters see no end in sight to the worst US drought in five decades, a blistering heatwave that has wilted crops across America's crucial breadbasket and sent grain prices soaring.
Worst drought in 5 decades ravages US
Jul 18, 2012 00:32 EDT
Weather forecasters see no end in sight to the worst US drought in five decades, a blistering heatwave that has wilted crops across America's crucial breadbasket and sent grain prices soaring.
Japan donates rice machinery to Cuba
Jul 17, 2012 15:19 EDT
Japan has donated about $3 million worth of machinery to grow and harvest rice as Cuba seeks to halve imports of the grain which top $200 million per year, local media said Tuesday.
Canada approves Glencore takeover of Viterra
Jul 15, 2012 22:12 EDT
Canada approved commodities giant Glencore's Can$6.1 billion takeover bid for Canadian agri-business group Viterra.
Monsoon covers India, 23% short: govt
Jul 11, 2012 14:03 EDT
Annual monsoon rains, crucial to India's economy, covered the country on Wednesday but remained 23 percent below average, sparking fears of their impact on two cereal-producing states.
US drought hits global grain outlook: FAO
Jul 05, 2012 09:47 EDT
Drought in the United States affecting mainly corn crops will cut forecast world production of grain this year by 23 million tonnes to 2.396 billion tonnes, the Food and Agriculture Organization said on Thursday.
India to export excess wheat stocks
Jul 04, 2012 18:10 EDT
India has approved the export of two million tonnes of wheat from its overflowing stocks to create storage space for new crops, the government said on Wednesday.
