World Agriculture

Developments, trade, data, and topics in world agriculture

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2015-12-21
Climate Change Action After Paris~ ~ Climate Action After Paris WASHINGTON, DC - At the United Nations climate conference in Paris, courageous and visionary leaders recognized that people rarely change the world when they work within the constraints of what they think is possible. The world hoped for an agreement, but most of us did not dare to dream of a deal that aspires to limit temperatures to 1.5° Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Paris delivered for the planet and for the poor. First, we need to approach development differently. Climate change must be considered in all of our work - from building cleaner cities to producing more food on less land - with a much stronger focus on adapting to changing climate patterns. This means that when we build a road in a country like Mozambique, we are also ensuring that it is resilient to the floods that accompany incessant rains. To this end, the World Bank unveiled a new climate action plan in Paris to help Sub-Saharan Africa in the years ahead. Second, we need a clean-energy transformation at the speed and scale of the digital revolution. The Paris talks sent a clear signal to markets, public officials, and investors that low-carbon growth is the future. Market forces will drive this agenda forward, and there will be greater potential to invest in renewable energy in developing countries than ever before. Dramatic decreases in the cost of low-carbon technologies also support an ambitious global transition toward renewable energy. One example is Bangladesh's innovations in increasing the sale of solar-power systems for homes in rural areas. Our low-cost financing helped to attract tremendous interest from the private sector, and today Bangladesh has the fastest-growing solar-home program in the world. More than 18.5 million people in rural areas now have reliable access to solar-powered electricity. Third, businesses must immediately become climate literate. In Paris, CEOs from various industries - ranging from cement to technology companies - made clear pledges to decrease carbon footprints, invest in renewables, and manage resources sustainably. This transition will require more partnerships across all levels of government, civil society, and the private sector. Fourth, world leaders must push harder for carbon pricing. Carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels carry a hefty price. It's a bill that comes to all of us in the form of public-health costs, damage to the environment, and adverse weather effects. While about 40 countries and 23 cities, states, and regions are using a carbon price, this covers only 12% of annual greenhouse-gas emissions. More than 90 developed and developing countries included carbon-pricing schemes among the actions they intend to take after the Paris deal. This is a welcome step. Finally, finance will be critical. National climate action plans - submitted by more than 180 countries - identify trillions of dollars of climate-related needs. This global economic transition holds tremendous investment opportunities for the private sector. The risks of carbon are high, but the opportunities to de-carbonize are even greater. For our part, we recently pledged to increase the World Bank Group's climate financing to as much as $29 billion annually by 2020. Every country will take a different path to deliver on its commitments. National leaders must honor the timetable for adaptation and emissions reductions. We are here to support them. We have plans that focus on climate-smart agriculture, building greener cities, increasing access to renewable energy, improving energy efficiency, and leveraging our finance for greater private investment. All are designed to lower greenhouse-gas emissions and help people adapt to the world's changing climate. The conference in Paris produced an agreement that went beyond our expectations. We must now move with ambition that matches this historic deal - one supported by nearly 200 countries. We are at a remarkable moment in the long battle to reduce harmful emissions, and we must capitalize on this global commitment to preserve our planet for future generations. Read more at https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/paris-climate-accord-further-action-by-jim-yong-kim-2015-12#Qp763PQxDeGS5ztD.99
2015-12-21
Why seed banks are not the only answer to food security~ ~ Why seed banks aren't the only answer to food security Hopes are being pinned on backup vaults to rescue the seeds we're losing, but some simple changes in our diets can make a difference too author of Bread, Wine, Chocolate: The Slow Loss of Foods We Love Thursday 26 November 2015 12.01 GMT Last modified on Thursday 26 November 2015 12.26 GMT On 10 September, Dr Mahmoud Solh, director general of the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (Icarda), sent an urgent request to the Svalbard global seed vault asking for the return of collections of seeds once held in Aleppo, Syria. A few weeks later, 128 crates of seeds holding around 38,000 samples of wheat, barley, lentil, chickpea, fava bean, pea, grass pea and legumes were removed from the vault located in the frigid, snow-packed archipelago halfway between Norway and the north pole. These seeds are now being sown at research stations in Lebanon and Morocco in the hope that they will soon provide farmers and breeders in Syria, a country besieged by war, with new seeds and saplings. Roughly 80,000 species from Syria's collection remain in the vault, the backup system for the world's seed collections known as the “Noah's Ark of seeds ”. The withdrawal marked the first time the vault had been accessed, but it will likely not be the last. This is because, for the past century, there has been a dramatic reduction in the diversity of what we grow and eat. We're losing food diversity Seeds are the building blocks of every meal we eat: our fruits and vegetables, our grains and pulses, plus the meat that's raised on grass and grain. The loss of diversity of what we eat is a result of multiple factors, including the increased industrialisation and globalisation of agriculture that has seen farmers worldwide pushed to abandon multiple local plant varieties for genetically uniform, high-yielding varieties. According to data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Monsanto and Syngenta, along with two other companies, control more than 70% of the entire proprietary seed market. The top eight companies control 94% of the commercial market and the USDA report adds that these shares will likely continue to rise. When commercialised, both hybrids and genetically engineered seeds have to be repurchased every year because they won't render consistent results if saved and used in subsequent plantings, or because they are protected as the “intellectual property” of seed companies. Those who control seeds ultimately control food. Other contributing factors to the decline in diversity include pests and disease, global warming, habitat loss and socio-economic factors such as trade agreements, urbanisation, changing diets and a growing disconnect between farmers and consumers. Today, 95% of the world's calories come from 30 crops, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Analysis of 50 years of data on global diets confirms a worldwide trend toward meals comprising wheat, rice, potatoes, maize, soybean and palm oil. In areas of food insecurity, increased calories are vital, but it's dangerous for the same reason - investment experts tell us - to diversify our financial holdings: putting all our eggs in one basket increases risk. One disease, one pest, or the volatility of a changing climate, can imperil them all. Seed vaults alone aren't the answer The solution to this challenge has been placed almost entirely in the hands of conservationists who manage ex situ (out of place) collections, such as Icarda and the global seed vault, and repositories that hold genetic material ranging from microbes to honeybee sperm, plus field collections for plants that are not cultivated from seed (such as apples and grapes). However, the vault and other stored collections have neither the space nor the resources to preserve the world's myriad foods, and much of this material is saved under conditions where it can remain stable but is unable to respond to changing environmental conditions or threats. This is why in situ (in place) conservation is also critical. This means conserving wild places, such as forests, in which plants and animals can thrive and evolve, as well as conservation by farmers through the cultivation of diverse breeds and plant varieties. These methods are not guaranteed, however, because of the constant threat of deforestation and the fiscal challenges farmers face. Farmers, the stewards of food, operate on thin margins. They can't be expected to grow crops or raise livestock for which there is no market. We can make a difference While mass production favours standardisation, smaller-scale producers recognise we can't secure future food without diversification. This is where we, the eating public, come in. We can help support the businesses that are grappling with this challenge by developing a new way to preserve and sustain our agricultural biodiversity: saving foods by eating them. With few exceptions, consumers have been overlooked in the pursuit to save these disappearing foods. Yet, this fight can't be won without us. “Although it isn't immediately obvious that eating olive oil would be radical, in the big picture that's exactly what it is," says conservationist Colin Khoury. “Eating olive oil is now a radical act. Eating anything that's not rice, wheat, corn, soy or palm oil is radical ." We can make a difference by seeking out diverse varieties of foods, by stepping out of the comfort zone of rice, wheat, maize, soya and palm oil and demanding the food industry offers diversity not only in flavour but also in the types of ingredients used. Initiatives such as Slow Food's Ark of Taste identify and preserve these endangered foods, but the revolution is humble and starts on our plates by looking at the pillars of our own diets and by making simple changes. The way to take back this power for ourselves is to understand why we eat what we eat, and to understand what we're losing, so we know what to reclaim. http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/nov/26/why-seed-banks-arent-the-only-answer-to-food-security
2015-12-21
Paris climate talks: a breakthrough for food security?~ ~ Frank Rijsberman Headshot Frank Rijsberman Become a fan CEO of CGIAR Consortium Is Food Security Breaking Through in Paris Climate Talks? Posted: 12/08/2015 12:33 pm EST Updated: 12/08/2015 1:59 pm EST The latest news from Paris is cautiously optimistic that we will have an agreement by Friday. What does it mean for agriculture and food security? Although the French government has shown great leadership championing agriculture at COP21, it is not yet really on the table for the negotiators. The good (and surprising) news comes from the commitments the countries have submitted. A recent CGIAR analysis of the first 150 country climate commitments (INDCs) submitted ahead of the UN climate talks revealed that countries appear to prioritize agriculture more than the negotiations have. 80% of commitments included agriculture in mitigation targets, and 64% included agriculture in adaptation strategies. Willingness to address agriculture and food security finally appears to be having some impact. As Tim Grooser, Climate Minister of New Zealand put it: "After many years of banging my head on a brick wall, trying to get attention for agriculture in UNFCCC, we are finally being heard". While this is unlikely to have a big impact on the result in Paris on Friday - it paves the way for more progress to be made in Marrakech at COP22, next year, via scientific (SBSTA) meetings held in Bonn in June 2016. 4 pour mille - solutions in soil One of the most promising new ideas at the Paris climate talks so far, is the French government's "4 pour mille" initiative. The name 4 pour mille (or 0.4%) refers to the annual increase in soil carbon, which would offset atmospheric carbon emissions. As the carbon reservoir in the soil is two to three times larger than all the carbon in the atmosphere, the initiative focuses attention on the huge potential agriculture has to become a critical part of climate change solutions. Agriculture and forestry alone can capture carbon from the atmosphere through photosynthesis, and sequester it in the soil. Increasing soil carbon not only mitigates climate change, it also increases - or restores - soil health and fertility, thereby helping agriculture to adapt to climate change and improve environmental health overall. Yields will go up, farms will be more resilient, and emissions will be reduced as a co-benefit. The private sector has made commitments in Paris aswell. A coalition of companies joined together under the umbrella of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development to focus on low carbon agriculture solutions. Monsanto has announced that its operations will be carbon neutral by 2021, in just 5 years. John Bryant, the CEO of Kelloggs, went a step further in Paris by not only committing to carbon neutrality for its own operations, but also to work with farmers in its supply chains to make half a million farmers climate smart. A proposal for the developing world In Paris CGIAR announced a $225 million proposal that would take climate smart agriculture and 4 pour mille to seven developing countries: Ghana, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, Nepal and Colombia. Farmers will co-develop and share widely climate-smart interventions that boost the levels of carbon captured in soils, such as conservation agriculture, agroforestry and improved forage systems. In those seven countries we estimate that farmers would be able to improve their agricultural yields by 20% and offset greenhouse gas emissions by 15% or 25 megatonnes of CO2e. This will contribute to CGIAR's own commitments to work, with partners, to reduce agriculture related emissions by 0.8 Gigaton, or 15%, by 2030, restore 190 million hectares of degraded land, save 7.5 million ha of forest from deforestation, and increase water and nutrient efficiency by 20%. Kan Conservation agriculture relies on several principles: minimizing soil disturbance, maintaining soil cover and practicing crop rotation. A farmer can realize an average yield increase of some 300kg per hectare in cereal yield by combining these approaches, and on the soil and local conditions, can increase organic matter in soils significantly. Ongoing CGIAR research is increasing our understanding of the mechanisms and conditions that affect the amounts of carbon captured in soils and the ability of soils to retain this carbon over time. Agroforestry can also make a significant difference. It is a form of inter-cropping that dedicates a share of cropped areas to trees. The most promising results in agroforestry come from the integration of Faidherbia albida trees, an indigenous African acacia, with food crops such as maize. These trees improve soil fertility by drawing nitrogen from the air and transferring it to the soil through their roots and shed leaves. This is being applied to several millions of hectares in Africa, for example in Zimbabwe, where crop yields can increase by 30 percent and sometimes more. The 4 pour mille initiative aims to demonstrates that agriculture can be a critical part of the climate change solution for adaptation and mitigation. We have to prioritize the capacity to adapt of resource poor smallholder families that have not contributed to the climate problem, but are the most vulnerable to its impacts, to ensure their access to healthy and affordable food. We need to ensure there is gainful employment for a new generation of African youth entering the labour market with few other options outside the agri-food system through climate compatible agriculture. And we can do so while developing low carbon, or even carbon-neutral farming systems. While agriculture and food security are the buzzwords at COP21 in Paris, and the door is now open, we have to make sure climate compatible agriculture is front and centre for the negotiators at COP22 in Marrakech. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-rijsberman/is-food-security-breaking_ B _8750512.html
2015-12-21
Canada's food security crisisThere's a Food Security Crisis in Canada and It's Worse Than You Think By Rebecca Tucker December 7, 2015 In late November, Food Banks Canada released its 2015 HungerCount report, the annual study that calls itself a "comprehensive report on hunger." This year's report, which looks at usage statistics at more than 4,000 food banks across the country, showed an increase from 2014, with more than 800,000 people using food banks per month, and an estimated 1.7 million individuals expected to use the service over the year. HungerCount is probably the most widely disseminated, frequently cited data produced in Canada in regards to the issue of hunger and food security in the country. Its numbers are high, and they should be jarring. But those numbers are misleading. It's more likely that the number of Canadians living in food insecure situations-meaning they sit somewhere on the spectrum from concerned about being able to afford good food or completely unable to do so-is four to five times higher than the number of Canadians who use food banks per month, or around 4 million people. And that margin of discrepancy, between how many people in Canada are actually food insecure (more than 10 percent) and how many people use food banks, is the difference between a problem and a crisis. Since more people are aware of the numbers on food bank usage than the stats concerning food insecurity in general, it's a crisis that's being ignored. "When you look at these reports, they give you the impression that they're stats on the problem. They're not," Valerie Tarasuk, a researcher based out of the University of Toronto, told VICE. "It's service utilization. If we were trying to look at the health of Canadians, would we look at the number of ambulances that drive by?" The issue, in other words, is right in the name: Food Banks Canada isn't actually counting the number of Canadians who are going hungry. Tarasuk works with an organization called PROOF, which has since 2011 issued an annual Report on Household Food Insecurity in Canada, with funding from the Canadian Institute of Health Research. The reports use data from the Statistics Canada Canadian Community Health Survey to chart food insecurity across the country, but their final tally includes households that report marginal food insecurity. In addition, PROOF's researchers count children under the age of 12, while Statistics Canada does not. The result is a table of statistics that varies drastically from the numbers being put forward by Stats Can or, indeed, HungerCount. In 2011, for instance, PROOF reported 3.9 million Canadians living in food insecure situations, including 1.1 million children. Statistics Canada only reported 1.1 million Canadians total (including a devastating 36.7 percent of households in Nunavut). HungerCount reported food bank usage by more than 850,000 Canadians per month. Beans: a staple of any low-income household. Photo via Flickr user allispossible.org.uk But for all the effort PROOF puts into its reports, it seems no one is seeing them: "I actually have a full time job that isn't about promoting that number," Tarasuk said, "but nobody has a full time job whose job is promoting that number ." In fairness to Food Banks Canada, its aim with HungerCount is to identify poverty reduction strategies and policy interventions to reduce food insecurity-which is also Tarasuk's goal with PROOF. Regardless, there is a lack of concrete data on the issue: In the United States, food insecurity is monitored and reported by the US Department of Agriculture, but in Canada, the Household Food Security Survey Module on Statistics Canada's annual Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) is less than comprehensive. Our numbers simply don't exist. According to Dr. Evan Fraser, the Canada Research Chair in Global Food Security, the dearth of information pertaining to food insecurity in Canada isn't specific to the issue. "Canada, relative to the US, does not have the investment in publicly available data," he told VICE. "So what you're observing here is something you'd find in all sorts of different areas. The USDA does a magnificent job; you get way more information ." Fraser, a University of Guelph professor and the author of the 2010 book Empires of Food, does cite HungerCount as a decent reflection of the rise of food insecurity in Canada, but also points to a 2012 report issued by Olivier De Schutter, the United Nations' special rapporteur to food. In that report, De Schutter also bemoaned Canada's lack of data collection on the issue of food insecurity, writing that "Canada would benefit from a national right to food strategy.... First, in order to effectively combat hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition, it is necessary to have a comprehensive understanding of who is hungry, food insecure, and malnourished. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that changes in the current budget will make the collection and analysis of data more complicated, particularly by changes to data collection through the elimination of the requirement for individuals to complete the long-form census ." Indeed, in 2013, British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland, and Labrador and the Yukon chose not to include the measurement of food insecurity for their populations in that year's Canadian Community Health Survey. However, the newly elected federal Liberal government has promised to reinstate the long-form census by 2016, which Fraser said is helpful. He explained that the new government is a positive outcome, too, in terms of the potential for policy interventions aimed at reducing hunger making it through the House of Commons. But on that front, he said that focusing strictly on interventions pertaining to income and housing would only be focusing on part of the problem. "One of the root causes of food insecurity in Canada is that there are some people in Canada who are unable to afford a healthy diet," he said. "Within that, there's the cost of the healthy diet, and there's the inequity. In both regards we need policy interventions ." Fraser points to the fact that Canada only grows 11 percent of its supply of fruits and vegetables, while the rest is imported, meaning the costs of the fruits and vegetables we buy at home is dictated by foreign currencies (and, given the weak Canadian dollar, that means they're simply too high). Canada's food manufacturing industry has lost 24,000 jobs since 2008. Add to that the lack of a guaranteed livable income, the skyrocketing price of housing in many urban areas, and the increased cost of transit and transportation and it's no longer any surprise that 61 percent of households that qualify as food insecure are waged or salaried-not your stereotypical food bank demographic, but rather, working Canadians. Additionally, those living in moderately food insecure situations in Ontario had medical costs that were 95 percent higher than those in food-secure households (compared to 32 percent higher in marginally food insecure households and 75 percent higher in severely food insecure households), according to a study published by Tarasuk in the August Canadian Medical Association Journal. Two months earlier, she also published a study that suggested that food insecurity is a greater indicator of poor nutrition in Canadians than it is in our neighbors to the south. "If you're one of the have-nots," Fraser said, "everything else has risen in price to the point that food is squeezed to the margin." And now, given the aforementioned, being a have-not doesn't necessarily mean living below the poverty line. So when we talk about food insecurity, we aren't just talking about hunger: We're talking about agriculture, economics, poverty, and costs to our healthcare system. But that's if we're talking about it at all. All signs, both Tarasuk and Fraser agree, point to Canada's national food insecurity as an underreported, nuanced crisis reaching its tipping point. Tarasuk, who has been monitoring food insecurity in Canada for 30 years, said the issue has "never been worse ." Fraser is more hopeful. He admits frustration at Canada's lack of a national food policy but, using climate change as an analogy, suggests that we are capable of shifting gears on widely misunderstood issues in a relatively short time. "Most of us, most of the time are aware of climate change. We're making progress on that file, which I would say 20 years ago was unexamined," he said. "Now, I would say our food system is one of the great unexamined aspects of modern society. Developing the ways and means to equitably and sustainably feed the world's population is-along with climate change and the rise of religious fanaticism-my guess is that these are the great issues the 21st century will be remembered ." http://www.vice.com/read/theres-a-food-security-crisis-in-canada-and-its-worse-than-you-think
2015-12-21
WTO talks: India seeks permanent solution to food securityWTO negotiations: India to seek permanent solution for food security This is an issue which large number of countries have an interest," she said at a WTO interaction organised by Ficci here. Comments (1) By: ENS Economic Bureau | New Delhi | Published:December 4, 2015 1:20 am Emphasising that India will stay firm on the issue of public stock-holding of food crops for food security, the government on Thursday urged World Trade Organization (WTO) member nations to work on consolidating the Doha development agenda even as it resisted any expansion of the negotiating agenda at the ministerial meeting in Nairobi later this month. Elaborating on the four main issues that India will focus on in the ministerial meeting beginning December 15, commerce secretary Rita Teotia said that the issue of agriculture has “deepest implication for millions of people around the world ”. “What we are looking at Nairboi are … the Doha Round must not be abandoned at Nairobi. It's true that we have rough patches, there are difficulties. But it is inevitable in a body as large as this…What we would look for is to consolidate what we have achieved so far and then move forward… the other issue is permanent solution on public stock-holding for food security. This is an issue which large number of countries have an interest," she said at a WTO interaction organised by Ficci here. Stressing on the fact that the issue of agriculture development is in convergence with the main objective of economic policy in a developing country - growth, stability and poverty alleviation - she said that India's stance on policies involving agriculture, food and market access will remain unchanged. While developed countries including the US, Australia, the EU oppose public stock-holding of food crops, it is crucial for India's food security programme. The developed countries want to cap the minimum support price and reduce the subsidies for fertilisers et al given to farmers. Raising concerns that developed nations want to “stonewall” the issues which are already on the table and introduce new one, she said that India will pitch for conclusion of Doha Round, permanent solution to the food security issue and protection to farmers from sudden surge in imports in the ministerial. “There is an effort now to introduce new issues on the table and try to expand the mandate without addressing the issues which are already under discussion. We have one group of countries who appears to be stonewalling the engagement on substantive negotiations on the issues," she said. The third issue which is important for India and other developing countries is protecting the interest of poor and subsistence farmers. Further, the package for least developed countries is also among the top priority for the country, she said. http://indianexpress.com/article/business/business-others/wto-negotiations-india-to-seek-permanent-solution-for-food-security/
2015-12-20
How Japan and the Netherlands Let Internet AgricultureJapan there are two major problems in Japanese agriculture. First, Japan does not have enough arable land, and the per capita arable land is even less. The second major problem in Japan is the aging of the population. At present, the average age of the agricultural employment population in Japan is 67 years old, which is jokingly called "agriculture for the elderly" by the local media ". And Japan is working to use the Internet to further improve the efficiency of agriculture, which the Japanese call the "green digital revolution". For producers, planting technology and knowledge determine the production efficiency of the core production factor "people. Japan is using the Internet to realize the data of planting technology and knowledge, so that these valuable experiences can be continuously inherited by the next generation of farmers and agricultural enterprises. Meteorological data and crop production data are collected through height sensors and sent to farmers or managers in real time so that they can irrigate and fertilize reasonably. Real-time recording of consumers' consumption of agricultural products through the Internet facilitates producers to cater to the market and adjust their planting plans in the shortest time, so as to avoid unsalable sales caused by information asymmetry. Using the global positioning system, unmanned tractors conduct 24-hour farming on large-scale farms. Japan is a big country in science and technology, and Japan has been committed to the development of intelligent agriculture. The development of agricultural science and technology with lower labor costs is Japan's national strategy. Nowadays, wearable micro-machines are the key research direction in Japan. They can assist producers in picking, harvesting and other work, even weeding and packaging. Netherlands the Netherlands is a small country in Europe, but it is the second largest agricultural exporter after the United States, with annual net exports of US $more than 30 billion. In fact, there are many similarities between the innate conditions of Dutch agriculture and Chinese agriculture, but the Netherlands has embarked on a path of efficient agriculture, how does the Netherlands do it? Can China replicate it? People often use the term "small country, big business" to describe the economic characteristics of the Netherlands. The Netherlands has a local area of only more than 40000 square kilometers, but its agricultural and animal husbandry products are famous for their high quality and high yield. The export volume of flowers and seeds has ranked first in the world for many years. The Netherlands has a long winter, and there are many unfavorable factors in the development of agriculture and animal husbandry. However, the hard work and intelligence of the Dutch to a large extent to make up for the "congenital deficiency". The hard-working Dutch know how to make the most of their limited land and put an ecological label on agriculture through innovation. The greenhouse construction area of the Netherlands is about 0.11 billion square meters, accounting for 1/4 of the world's glass greenhouse area. It is mainly used for planting flowers and vegetables, with an annual output value of up to 1.2 billion US dollars. It is one of the important economic pillars of the Netherlands. The remarkable characteristics of Dutch agriculture are high input and high output, that is, to achieve high efficiency through capital-intensive advanced technology, all of which need the strong support of advanced agricultural science and technology. The Netherlands attaches great importance to the development of science and technology. The national education and research funds account for 19.1 per cent of the total national budget, much higher than other departments, and agricultural scientific research is an important field. Government spending on agricultural research and development reached $0.411 billion billion in 2008, significantly higher than in large European countries such as the UK. In addition, the "trinity" of agricultural scientific research, extension and education in the Netherlands is under the unified responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food quality, which effectively integrates resources and facilitates the development of agricultural science and technology. 2015-12-11 Source: Shanxi Farmers Daily
2015-12-20
Foreign "New Farmers" Successful CasesNon-governmental organization-French Agricultural Tourism Association as early as 1954, the Federal Federation of State Hostels hosted the "French Farm Hostel Network". Since then, various agricultural tourism community organizations and intermediary agencies have been established one after another, which has effectively promoted the exchange of experience, information dissemination, and talent training in agricultural tourism. Industry Synergy-Australian Wine Tourism australia to vineyard production facilities, rural scenery, special food, wine brewing process production line, wine history and culture as the attraction, the development of experience tourism and cultural tourism diversified tourism product portfolio. Through the establishment of the Victoria Wine Industry Tourism Committee and the South Australia Wine Industry Tourism Committee to promote the coordinated development of the wine industry and tourism, absorb surplus labor in rural areas, and create an industrial economic multiplier effect. Inhabitant Participation-Indonesian Agricultural Tourism Resort located in East Java, Indonesia, Margo Utomo Agro Resort was established in 1976. Classic tourism projects include visiting the planting and processing of tropical crops such as pepper, cardamom, coffee, cigars in a rural garden, and watching sea turtles lay eggs on the beach at night. Margouto Hotel has nearly 100 service employees, most of whom are local villagers. Villagers' extensive participation in tourism activities not only gains good income, but also spreads rural culture in the interaction with tourists, improves tourists' satisfaction and improves the welfare level of local communities. Technology-based-Singapore Agricultural Science and Technology Park singapore's national arable land area is only 5900 hectares, accounting for 9.5 of the land area. Science and technology agriculture has become the most important way for Singapore's agricultural development. Since the 1980 s, the Singapore government has vigorously developed agricultural science and technology parks. Ecological corridors, vegetable gardens, flower gardens, hot crops gardens, crocodile farms, marine farms, etc. have been built in the park, which has gradually formed a unique tourist attraction. December 17, 2015 Source: Shanxi Farmers Daily
2015-12-20
EU real income per agricultural worker falls by 4.3 per cent in 2015European Commission website December 15 news. According to Eurostat's first estimate, real agricultural income in the EU fell by 6.0 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, agricultural labor input fell by 1.8 per cent, and real per capita agricultural income fell by 4.3 per cent. Compared with the previous year, real per capita agricultural income is expected to increase in 2015 in 13 EU member states, with the five largest increases being Croatia (21.5 per cent), Latvia (14.3 per cent), Greece (12.1 per cent), France (8.8 per cent) and Italy (8.7 per cent), the five largest declines were in Germany (-37.6 per cent), Poland (-23.8 per cent), Luxembourg (-20.0 per cent), Denmark (-19.7 per cent) and the United Kingdom (-19.3 per cent). Compared with 2014, the EU's agricultural output value is expected to decline by 2.5 in nominal terms in 2015, mainly due to a decline in animal husbandry output value and crop output value of 5.9 and 0.3 respectively, of which milk and live pigs fell by 14.9 and 8.9 respectively, sugar beet, edible corn, fodder plants, oil and oily fruits and barley fell by 26.0, 24.5, 7.6, 5.3 and 1.8 respectively. Input costs decreased by 2.4 percent, mainly due to declines of 10.1 percent in energy and 3.7 percent in animal feed. 2015-12-18 Source: Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China
2015-12-02
US farmers switch to storing grain as prices dropUS farmers turn to storage as grain prices sag Emiko Terazono in London and Gregory Meyer in New York Non-GMO corn is harvested with a John Deere & Co. 9670 STS combine harvester in this aerial photograph taken above Malden, Illinois, U.S., on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2015. Corn exports by the U.S., the biggest producer, are running 28 percent behind last year's pace as a stronger dollar entices buyers to go elsewhere for cheaper supply. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg ©Bloomberg Big white grain bags sold by Big John Mfg company of Nebraska are flying out the door. “In the last two years we've done more [business] than we have in the previous five years together," says Daniel Fritz, product development manager at the farm equipment supplier. The white polyfilm and nylon mesh bags are used for temporary storage of surplus crops. With US corn and soyabean harvests over and grain prices at historic lows, demand has been high. US corn The amount of grain in storage, and where it is stored, has become a preoccupation for traders, merchants and analysts. Three consecutive years of bumper harvests have pushed prices - particularly for corn - below many farmers' cost of production. As a result, some are refusing to sell until the market rebounds. Hal Reed, chief operating officer of The Andersons, a US-based grain merchant and ethanol producer, says of farmers: “They put the grain in [storage] and say basically, 'It's too cheap for me to sell right now. I'm going to wait '." Farmers built up strong finances after years of high commodity prices. They invested some savings in grain bins. US on-farm storage capacity totalled 13.1bn bushels as of last December, up 7 per cent from five years before, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Rather than sell grain at a loss, many farmers have chosen to hang on to their inventories and wait for the market to rebound. “They're financially pretty well off. They've got space built. They don't need the cash flow," says Mr Reed. A related trend has played out in Argentina, where farmers have hoarded crops in grain bags to protect against inflation and currency devaluation. Mauricio Macri, the newly elected president, has pledged to reduce or remove export taxes and restrictions, a move that could release some of these inventories into world markets. In the US, as farmers have held on to stocks, corn inventories have surged 40 per cent from a year ago to 1.7bn bushels just before this year's harvest. The stronger dollar has also weakened US grain exports, trapping more inside the country. The lack of selling has hit agricultural traders that buy grain from farmers. Archer Daniels Midland, one of the biggest grain handlers and processors, said farmers' propensity to hold on to crops contributed to an 11 per cent fall in third-quarter operating profit for its merchandising and handling unit. US corn Farmers are “holders of grain”, said Juan Luciano, ADM chief executive, who added that as of early November, US farmers had only sold about 30 per cent of their new crop, while in normal years it would be about 45 per cent. Rival Bunge also noted “farmer retention” as a factor affecting its profit margins. The stand-off between farmers on one side and merchants and consumers on the other has lifted the spot price of corn above benchmark futures in some places, an abnormality in the weeks after harvest. For instance, the price of corn in Chillicothe, Ohio, where ADM has a grain elevator, was 25 cents above the $3.65-a-bushel price of corn futures this week on the Chicago Board of Trade. “Storage has helped keep prices a little bit higher," says Stefan Vogel, head of agri commodity markets research at Rabobank. Nowhere is the trend stronger than in the eastern part of the US corn belt - states such as Ohio and Indiana, where heavy rains early in the growing season led to smaller crops at harvest time. US corn The premium, or “basis”, for physical corn in parts of the two states indicates tightness in local markets as businesses such as ethanol plants and livestock feed mills compete with grain elevators for supplies. The Legacy Farmers Co-operative in northwestern Ohio this week offered as much as 15 cents over the price of Chicago's CBOT corn futures, according to its website. Mark Sunderman, Legacy's chief executive, says: “It is unusual that directly after the harvest, we would have a basis that is over CBOT." He noted that a higher cash price was necessary to entice farmers to part with their corn. How long farmers hang on to inventories will depend on grain markets. The high levels of inventories means any potential rally could be damped by sellers waiting for prices to rise. As some farmers may run out of space in bins, they may turn to grain bags, rings and tarps. Mr Fritz at Big John Mfg says some of his customers still have grain from two years ago. “Their bins are full with last year's and a little from a year before," he says. “Now they're looking to store this year's on top of that ."
2015-12-02
Agriculture issues could ruin US-EU trade talks~ Markets | Tue Dec 1, 2015 8:50am EST Farm issues could scupper free trade deal with EU: U.S. BRUSSELS | By Sybille de La Hamaide Differences between the United States and the European Union over issues such as genetically modified crops and hormone-treated beef could scupper a free trade deal, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Tuesday. The European Union and the United States hope to seal a Transatlantic Trade and Investment image: http://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png Partnership (TTIP) that would encompass a third of world trade and nearly half of global gross domestic product. The two sides have made limited progress after 11 negotiating rounds, however, and food and farming issues tend to be among the thorniest in trade negotiations. ADVERTISING "This is not going to be an easy discussion. We know there are serious issues," Vilsack told the EU Agricultural outlook conference hosted by the European Commission. Vilsack singled out three issues that had to be addressed: European opposition to U.S. exports of beef and genetically modified organisms, and U.S. opposition to the EU's system of geographical indications, or designation of origin protection. "If we don't address these difficult, tricky issues ... decide not to deal with them because they are too hard, then in my view you are not going to have a TTIP agreement," he told reporters. "The agricultural interests in the United States, by themselves, are not politically powerful enough to get an agreement passed, but they are certainly powerful enough to stop agreement that's been negotiated," he said. The United States says science shows U.S. products from genetically modified crops to hormone-treated beef are safe, but those claims are met with suspicion in much of Europe. Geographical indicators (GIs), a list of more than 1,000 products ranging champagne to Parma ham, are a cornerstone of EU farm and trade policy. They are designed to ensure only products from a specific region can carry a specific name. To the United States, that smacks of protectionism. Like Vilsack, EU Commissioner Phil Hogan said progress had been achieved, but stressed the need to have a fair deal for both sides, mentioning access for EU dairy products, which face high tariff and sanitary barriers, and the protection of GIs. "I am convinced we can get a balanced outcome that will have the support of Europe's farm sector," he told the conference. "But to achieve that balance, and to get the weight of the farm groups, member states and the European Parliament behind TTIP, Europe will need some gains too ." "I think this is all doable in 2016. But we need to start negotiating these things now," Hogan said. Read more at Reutershttp://www.reuters.com/article/2015/12/01/us-trade-europe-usa-idUSKBN0TK4O420151201#kmw2h8OxM2ri1dW5.99
2015-12-02
We can't talk about greenhouse gas emissions without mentioning agriculture~ ~ We can't talk emissions without talking agriculture EVAN FRASER and SYLVAIN CHARLEBOIS Contributed to The Globe and Mail Last updated Monday, Nov. 30, 2015 2:03PM EST As world leaders meet to discuss climate change in Paris, the headlines are being dominated by carbon taxes, clean energy, the future of the oil sands and coal. One economic sector, agriculture, is overshadowed by these more obvious polluters - which is odd, given that food and farming systems are both major emitters of greenhouse gases and particularly vulnerable to climatic shifts. According to recent research, our food and farming systems contribute approximately 30 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. The majority of this occurs on farms and comes either from livestock manure or from the fields themselves, where soil-bound organic matter decomposes after plowing. Inputs are the second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in this sector - it takes huge amounts of energy to produce nitrogen fertilizer. Disposal of the world's food waste (approximately 30 per cent of global food supply is never eaten) is especially problematic, since food in landfill often decomposes anaerobically, producing methane that is much more potent than carbon dioxide in terms of atmospheric warming. Agriculture is vulnerable to changing weather patterns and many regions are expected to experience more frequent and intense droughts. Strong evidence suggests that climate change is exacerbating California's drought, as well as droughts in other parts of the world. But farmers are vulnerable to any changing weather pattern. Ontario residents may remember the unseasonably warm early spring of 2012, when apple trees blossomed in March. Frosts returned in April, ruining Ontario's crop. Over all, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (the United Nations body responsible for summarizing the scientific evidence on this topic) expects that climate change will cause significant yield declines in almost every region of the world during the 21st century. Canada might benefit from a longer growing season, but many researchers caution that anticipating bounty for Canadian farmers could be misplaced optimism. Extra warmth might help Prairie farmers, but it might also lead to new pest problems and a loss of soil moisture that is not accounted for in climate models. Throughout history, agricultural problems have acted as catalysts that trigger widespread social and humanitarian crises. For instance, the French Revolution came after El Nino caused harvest failures that sent waves of migrants to Paris, where they protested food prices. The Rwandan genocide, which emerged out of the conflict between Hutus and Tutsis, was caused by many things including environmental degradation, drought, poverty and economic changes that triggered the migration that brought these groups together into one of humanity's darkest chapters. Even when ethnic tensions or political revolutions do not emerge, cases such as the Dust Bowl years or the Irish potato famine illustrate the consequences when things go wrong with our food systems. To dismiss these problems as too distant to be relevant to Canadians would be unwise. Many experts believe that the Syrian civil war and the resulting refugee crisis, both of which have directly involved Canada, were in part triggered by a massive drought that devastated Syria between 2006 and 2009. Scientists have used sophisticated modelling to conclude that the scale and magnitude of this drought would have been unlikely in the absence of anthropogenic greenhouse gases. Many conclude that this drought was one of the factors that undermined rural economies, causing farmers to abandon their land and flood to Syria's ill-equipped cities, where they became upset at political corruption and rife inequalities. Of course, it is entirely too simplistic to ascribe the turmoil in the Middle East to a climate trigger. But it is necessary to understand that unpredictable weather patterns hurt farming systems, and this was a factor in the current situation. Despite this apocalyptic tone, climate change may actually present Canada, and the Canadian food and farming sector, with unique opportunities. First of all, we can invest in research to create climate-resilient food and farming systems that use far less energy and produce far fewer greenhouse gases. Doing this will require bringing the digital revolution to our farms and food processors. Satellite-guided tractors equipped with sensors to measure soil moisture and nutrient content can help farmers produce more food with fewer inputs and be less vulnerable to drought. Innovations in food science can create novel products for consumers that are nutritious and less taxing on the environment to produce. And advanced genomics technologies can provide the tools to monitor and control the spread of pests and pathogens and can help governments establish a bio-surveillance and bio-security shield to protect consumers. Simultaneously, we must be much more ambitious in our development targets and establish grassroots partnerships in poorer parts of the world where food security and farm livelihoods are particularly vulnerable to climate change. This is because the digital technologies that can revolutionize food and farming systems in North America are unlikely to provide meaningful benefits to small-scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. In such places, we must adopt a participatory paradigm to working with a range of stakeholders in order to develop local solutions to local problems. In other words, gender equity, capacity building and empowering the marginal are as crucial as research and development for feeding the future. By adopting both a bottom-up and a top-down approach, we can position Canada at the forefront of the next agricultural revolution and lead the world in developing the necessary bio-intelligence. We have to ensure that our food and farming systems help resolve the climate problem, instead of simply contributing to it. Evan Fraser is Canada Research Chair in the University of Guelph's geography department. Sylvain Charlebois is professor of food distribution and policy at the University of Guelph. Both are affiliated with the university's Food Institute.
2015-12-02
U.S. farm incomes fell 38% in 2015-lowest level in 13 years~ Tue Nov 24, 2015 2:32pm EST U.S. farm income to fall 38 percent in 2015 to 13-year low: USDA CHICAGO | By Karl Plume U.S. farm incomes are expected to drop 38 percent in 2015, the steepest year-on-year drop since 1983, due to lower crop and livestock prices, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service (ERS) said on Tuesday. Incomes are forecast to drop for a second straight year to $55.9 billion, which if realized would be the lowest level since 2002, signaling further pressure on sellers of agricultural inputs, equipment and land. The updated forecast was down from an August estimate for $58.3 billion and 55 percent below a record $123.3 billion in 2013 when near record-high crop prices boosted farming profits. "It is apparent that what is happening in global food prices and the global economy is beginning to filter through into the U.S. farm sector," said ERS Economist Jeffrey Hopkins. "Over the past three years we've seen an decrease in the index of food and fiber prices ... Those prices are beginning to impact U.S. farms," he said. Corn futures on the Chicago Board of Trade have fallen by more than half from record highs in 2012 following bumper crops in the United States and South America. Soybean futures hit a 6-1/2-year low on Monday amid ample global supplies. Shares of farm equipment makers such as U.S. market leader Deere & Co have plunged this year in response to declining sales during the farm economy downturn. Seed and agrochemical company Monsanto Co announced in October it was cutting 2,600 jobs and restructuring operations to reduce costs amid slumping commodity markets. Farm income was down mostly due to lower crop and livestock prices, which cut crop receipts at U.S. farms by 8.7 percent to $18.2 billion and livestock receipts by 12 percent to $25.4 billion, the ERS report said. That decrease was only partly offset by a $7.7 billion drop in production expenses, down 2 percent, and a $1 billion increase in government payments to farmers via programs such as crop insurance. The ERS forecast farm debt to increase by 6.8 percent while farm assets image: http://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png such as land and machinery were seen dropping by 2.8 percent, pushing farms' debt-to-asset ratios up for a third straight year. But the measure was still low in historical terms, the agency said. "It still appears that the sector is insulated from default risk, which is what the debt-to-asset ratio is measuring," Hopkins said. (Reporting by Karl Plume; Editing by Andrew Hay and Meredith Mazzilli) Read more at Reutershttp://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/24/us-usa-farming-outlook-idUSKBN0TD2NA20151124#yvTFmy2YoBTYFjOF.99
2015-12-02
Drones have a wide market in agriculture~~Commercial market for drones in agriculture is robust, farmers told Published Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015, 8:19 pm The market for commercial drone use in American agriculture has been recognized by aviation and agriculture experts. But some specifics remain up in the air. Farmers at the 2015 Virginia Farm Bureau Federation Annual Convention in Norfolk posed numerous questions. Among them were “Who owns the data that (drones) collect on private land?", “Will there be regulatory training for operators, like there is for pilots?" and “If you find a drone in your soybean field, is it yours ?" Darryl Jenkins, chairman of the American Aviation Institute, delivered the convention's keynote address on “The Future of Drones and Your Farm." Jenkins is founder of the George Washington University Aviation Institute and a past professor at GWU and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. He also is a consultant to airlines and aviation companies, an airline analyst and author of the Handbook of Airline Economics. The market for unmanned aerosystems in agriculture is “a decent market” to say the least, he noted. “We thought (commercial drones) would be used primarily in agriculture, but every day I get a note about new uses for drones ." In agriculture specifically, Jenkins said, “you're going to see drones, and you're going to see them soon and they're going to become ubiquitous." Proposed Federation Aviation Administration rules, he noted, will establish regulations sufficient for commercial drone use on smaller and medium-size farms. He cited a recent study conducted for the American Farm Bureau Federation that found farmers will, on average, enjoy a $10-per-acre increase in revenue by using drones. That figure will vary, he said, because per-acre value varies among U.S. crops. He cited his own research that found only 5 percent of U.S. farmers have made up their minds to use drones to collect information on their crops. The devices can be used to survey evapotranspiration, surface and root-zone soil moisture and crop health features like chlorophyll levels and canopy volumes, Jenkins said. “We can measure all sorts of things in your field," generating data that he said will be “the next big Green Revolution ." Questions remain, he noted, on who will own that data. But precision agriculture operators can use it to create prescriptive maps of fields and then tailor how, when and where they irrigate or apply products like fertilizer. Drone owners most likely will be required to register themselves as such with the FAA, and commercial operators most likely will be required to hold a license and maintain certification and a flight logbook, Jenkins said. With 128,000 members in 88 county Farm Bureaus, VFBF is Virginia's largest farmers' advocacy group. Farm Bureau is a non-governmental, nonpartisan, voluntary organization committed to supporting Virginia's agriculture industry and preserving the Virginia way of life. View more convention news as it becomes available atVaFarmBureau.org/NewsVideo/ConventionNewsroom.aspx.
2015-12-02
Agriculture plays a unique role in climate change~~Agriculture has 'unique role' in climate change Farming unions ask UK government to recognise crucial role of farming sector at Paris Climate Talks and outline list of key asks Agriculture has 'unique role' in climate change The agricultural sector has a “unique capacity” to help tackle climate change and feed a growing population, UK farming unions have said. Speaking during this week's high-level climate talks in Paris, the NFU, NFU Scotland, NFU Cymru and UFU have called on the UK government and devolved administrations to acknowledge the key role of the food and farming sectors. The group said farming is on the “frontline” of climate change impacts, as it is particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events. “However, agriculture in the UK has significant potential to address the challenge of producing for the future as well as tackling climate change," a group statement said. The group outlined several key asks including unlocking the “huge potential” of land-based renewable, including solar, wind, mini-hydro, anaerobic digestion and recognising the substantial diversification income opportunity from renewable energy. They also want more research to ensure developments and breakthroughs become commercially viable and request that carbon accounting systems 'credit' the added mitigation benefits that agriculture can deliver, through carbon storage and renewable energy export. “Agriculture is unique. It supplies food, stores carbon and generates renewable energy. Farming is on the frontline of climate change impacts, being particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events. “Producing more with less is key; through more efficient use of inputs and reduced environmental impact, but there is no 'one size fits all' solution ." The group warned that farming needs a fair share of water and better protection of agricultural land from flooding, in order to give farmers the confidence to invest for an increasingly uncertain future. The Paris Climate Talks, also known as COP21, are currently taking place in the French capital. It is the first time such a large number of world leaders have gathered in one place, with the aim to secure the first-ever legally binding emissions reduction plan.
2015-12-02
Climate-smart agriculture is key to ending hunger~ ~ Climate-Smart Agriculture Is Key to Ending Hunger Posted: 12/01/2015 1:30 am EST Updated: 12/01/2015 12:59 pm EST I grew up on a small farm in southeastern China in the 1960s. A scene out of The Good Earth, my family and I raised chickens and pigs and eked out rice and wheat on a small plot about half the size of a football field. Some years we were able to feed ourselves, but mostly we were poor and hungry. Hunger, we now know, results not from food shortages but from policy failures. As people look to climate talks in Paris, my hope is that the negotiators will consider policy changes to the world's agricultural system to help us deal with rapidly changing climate as well as unacceptably high rates of hunger. Every day, 800 million people, mostly in Africa and Asia, still go to bed hungry. And even more people lack adequate vitamins and minerals - a situation that takes a $2 trillion bite out of global GDP every year. At the same time, the projected impacts of climate change on future food supplies are alarming. Extreme droughts and rising temperatures are expected to cause global crop yields to continuously drop. For poor countries, losses could be as high as 50 percent by 2050. This means poor people will be forced to cut back on quantity and quality of their food, leading to severe health damages, spike in food prices and political instability. The Green Revolution technologies in the 1950s and 1960s saved billions of lives, as they multiplied crop yields through irrigation, fertilizers, pesticides and high-yielding crop varieties. But they also prevented people from growing nutritious food like fruits and vegetables and degraded the environment. They forced women to work in slave-like conditions. My mother had to get up at four o'clock every morning to harvest multiple times a year. So we need a new green revolution that can reduce agriculture's carbon footprint, empower women and generate a productive agricultural sector that can nourish everybody in the world. Building this kind of climate-smart agriculture requires smart policies by governments. Climate change is already affecting food production, and farmers need help to anticipate the changes in temperature and precipitation that are certain to come. They need programs to help them choose crops and adopt farming technologies, making them more resilient to weather extremes. Dozens of these technologies - no-till farming, drought-resistant and heat-tolerant seeds, drip irrigation and water harvesting - already exist. Agriculture is responsible for 30 percent of the greenhouse gases that are emitted, so it has a significant role to play in getting us closer to a carbon-neutral world. Unfortunately, many developing countries have done little to promote these technologies that can help reduce agriculture's contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. Governments also continue to subsidize farmers to overuse valuable resources like water and energy. Most of these subsidies are used to produce more grains at the expense of nutritious crops like pulses, fruits and vegetables, which have grown progressively expensive. Such policies also contribute to the rise of obesity and overweight, afflicting one third of the world population. We need to reform policies so that they encourage farmers to produce as much nutrition as possible with the resources available. Many countries are still wedded to backward trade policies that emphasize food self-sufficiency over nutrition. As farming conditions change, countries need to focus on what they grow best and import the rest. They need to reform trade policies to move food freely. National food self-sufficiency is not worthy of the name when it doesn't feed everyone adequately. And it may simply not be possible in the climate of the future. Skeptics will argue that it's impossible to eliminate hunger. I know it's possible because I 've seen countries make rapid gains on a massive scale with the right policies. For example, if China and Vietnam continue at their current rates of cutting hunger by enabling small farmers to produce and purchase nutritious food, they can eradicate hunger and boost nutrition in the next ten years. By 2050, we can expect to have 9.6 billion mouths. We will be fortunate if we can keep global temperatures below the 2 degree Celsius threshold we have set for ourselves. But we won't be able to end hunger and cope with climate change if we cling to ineffective and outdated agricultural practices and policies. Today, my family and I are well fed and prosperous. It was thanks to innovative policies that allowed small farmers to own land and pursue rural enterprises that I was able to escape hunger. Now let's do the same for humanity. (Photo Credit: Milo Mitchell/IFPRI)
2015-12-02
Paris climate summit: More attention needed to protect forests and agriculture~~COP21: UN spotlights need to protect forests and agriculture to improve livelihoods, feed the world 1 December 2015 - The impacts of climate change on forests and agriculture were in the spotlight today at the United Nations climate change conference (COP21), as new alliances among organizations and stakeholders were announced aiming to eliminate natural deforestation and forest degradation, and to prevent threats to sustainable farming and people's livelihoods. Many of the events on the second day of the global gathering in Paris, France took place in the context of the Lima-Paris Action Agenda (LPAA) - a joint undertaking by the Governments of Peru and France, the Office of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the organizer of the current conference, the 21st meeting of the Convention's States Parties. The Action Agenda was launched in December 2014 by the previous meeting of the UNFCCC parties in Lima, Peru. As highlighted in a press release issued by UNFCCC, the LPAA aims to strengthen climate action beyond COP21, by “mobilizing robust global action towards low carbon and resilient societies and providing enhanced support to existing initiatives ." During the two-week conference, 12 thematic focus events are being organized to expose how climate issues affect various sectors and to suggest relevant solutions to tackle them. On Tuesday, with forests and agriculture taking center stage, leaders from governments, the private and public sectors, civil society and indigenous peoples voiced their environmental concerns. This included how agriculture, forestry and other land uses are responsible for nearly a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions - about half of that from deforestation and forest degradation, mostly driven by demand for food and wood products and inequities and inefficiencies in the use of land for their production. “Forest countries in partnership with other governments, the private sector and civil society are set for an increased international effort to eliminate natural deforestation and forest degradation in a few decades," said Peru's Minister of the Environment Manuel Pulgar-Vidal speaking at a press conference. “The success of the LPAA and its action area on Forests relies on effective synergies between state and non-state actors, between investment and forest management - all together rallied behind sustainably managed forests as a common goal," he added. According to UN estimates, approximately one billion people depend directly on forests for their livelihoods and each year, approximately 12 million hectares of forest are destroyed. This loss of forest cover is said to be responsible for roughly 11 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Meanwhile, governments and organizations, including the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), announced six new cooperative initiatives that aim to protect the long-term livelihoods of millions of farmer and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The entities highlighted how agriculture is one of the sectors most seriously affected by extreme climate but it also accounts for 24 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions which cause climate change. The initiatives focus on four key areas: soils in agriculture, the livestock sector, food losses and waste, and sustainable production methods and resilience of farmers. The new partnerships are expected to deploy money and know-how across both developed and developing nations to help hard-pressed farmers become key actors in the global drive to achieve a low-carbon, climate-resilient future. UNFCCC said today's events reveal the “effective and concrete progress” that can be made when a wide, international set of stakeholders work together to build resilience and low-carbon systems of production in agricultural and food systems. News Tracker: past stories on this issue Deforestation slows, 'but we need to do better' on sustainable forest use - UN agriculture chief
2015-12-02
Morgan Stanley says US corn exports expected to accelerate~ ~ morgan Stanley says US corn exports expected to accelerate 2015-11-17 09:35 | source: China Grain Network | A research report released by investment bank Morgan Stanley shows that corn futures prices have fallen and are close to recent lows, which may provide a good opportunity to do more, because the pace of US corn exports is about to accelerate. The investment bank said that in the medium term, the recent price weakness may be a good opportunity to do more corn. Despite the disappointing performance of US corn exports so far in 2015/16, Morgan Stanley is not worried. As of October 29, US corn export sales in 2015/16 were 13.15 million tons, 32% behind the same period last year. However, Morgan Stanley said that corn exports are still weak in the near future, but in the medium term, corn export sales will accelerate to meet global import demand. Brazil, the second largest corn exporter, has a strong export outlook and revised forecasts. According to the latest counsellor report of the USDA's overseas agricultural bureau, Brazilian corn exports in 2015/16 are expected to reach 26 million tons, 1 million tons higher than the official forecast of the US Department of agriculture. However, Brazilian corn exports usually show seasonal characteristics, slowing from December to April, and then accelerating again in August. Morgan Stanley pointed out that the production of major corn exporting countries has fallen sharply-especially Argentina and Ukraine. Therefore, when Brazil's corn exports gradually slow down in the next few months, the pace of US corn exports will accelerate. Editor: Xi Shi (China Grain Network) if reprinted, please indicate the source (China Grain Network copyright statement)
2015-12-02
Analysis and prediction: the two ends of soybean and the pattern of commodity changesAnalysis and prediction: the two ends of soybean and the pattern of commodity changes 2015-12-02 10:00 Source: Hexun Futures although contact with this variety of soybeans for many years, because they are not people in this industry, their pulse is not clear enough. Oak Valley researcher Liang Zhimo from the macro-mainly the dollar, supply and demand, planting, inventory and price relationship, made a mathematical model for quantitative research, the conclusion, to give a long-term operating plan, but in the short trend, still have to rely on short-term supply and demand pressure and sentiment to calculate the trading method. Soybean meal is a variety that the author has tried and failed repeatedly. In fact, this year, the oil-to-meal ratio, brown oil ratio, and rapeseed meal-to-soybean meal ratio showed correlation beyond the scope of large-cycle changes and cost support. You can see that soybean meal can go to 2600-2700 when the U.S. bean 850 is near, and soybean meal falls below 2500 when the U.S. bean rebounds to 900. This pattern reflects the pressure of complex arbitrage hedging relationships on the soybean meal variety. Although agricultural products look at supply, demand is still the direction we must look. When the pig cycle and poultry, aquatic products and so on are carefully studied, the superficial glancing and glancing research has been unable to tell the truth. For example, pig stock. After a four-to five-year pig cycle, pork prices have been rising in the last year, but they have failed to promote a large-scale increase in the stock of breeding sows and pigs. Substitute products are constantly eroding the feed industry's soybean meal protein territory. So what happened? The underlying reason for having to be investigated is that the overall financing and expansion capacity of the pig industry has been weakened as a whole in the past pig cycle. And during the depressed phase of the macro cycle, wide money did not reach new investment in the pig industry. This brings a serious problem. In fact, the price of pork will continue to rise, but the range will not be too large. The microscopic performance of the pig stock column is that the weight of the column becomes larger, and the overall reduction in the cost of feed can allow farmers to put the pig longer and heavier again. This is a description of the Austrian school's economic cycle, when massive monetary stimulus passed, large investments were made in construction equipment with excess capacity, price collapses and capital chains were broken, and food shortages were found, but no money was injected into the investment. As a result, the recovery phase of the pig cycle is also lengthened, which will give surviving farmers a longer period of profitability, thus allowing them to accumulate capital and also credit, allowing fearful banks to have the confidence and collateral to inject capital into the pig industry, thus increasing the number of pigs on hand. On the supply side, there was a two-year El Nino phenomenon, which brought about good weather and the expansion of soybean planting area in North and South America until the soybean price was close to the cost price of 850 cents. The author has always been skeptical about the process of de-capacity of commodities, because the author participated in the commodity industry did not go through a complete cycle, do not know whether de-capacity is an active process. For example, the non-ferrous industry began to alliance, demanding a joint production cut, and let the state storage. But what about the rubber industry? Natural rubber is a loose industry dominated by small rubber farmers around the world. De-capacity will quickly happen to the big rubber farmers, the manor owners, because they hire workers to harvest has fallen into the red. A large number of small rubber farmers will not stop. There will be regional natural competition, and areas with high living costs will trigger rubber farmers to abandon cutting and replace varieties, resulting in a decline in the industry's capacity. In fact, sugarcane-like white sugar has already appeared in this pattern, and the removal of production capacity is at the expense of China's reduced acreage. The rubber industry will also be eliminated by low-cost emerging producers in Southeast Asia and Africa with China's planting and harvesting area, unless China adopts large-scale subsidies. There will be different industries, that is to say, it is relatively easy for mining and manufacturing to stop production and reduce production capacity, although there are also doubts. But neither agricultural products nor crude oil de-capacity can be done subjectively. Farmers in North and South America are reluctant to sell when money allows, while mature U.S. futures markets have plenty of hedging to maintain basis trading. Therefore, the author finally understands that the de-production capacity of soybeans is bound to be a cyclical change in the volatility of multiple factors overlapping. The instinct of relying on the weather for a living is that when the weather cycle turns back, the aquaculture industry will have a superposition of capital investment, and at the same time farmers are forced to fallow at the bottom of the cost. These factors occur at the same time, which brings about drastic cyclical changes. Just like the description of the meteorological cycle written by the author to the client, in a very strong El Niño year, it means that the next spring will quickly change to La Niña climate, which will lead to a climate reversal in the East and West Pacific and bring to the grains of North and South America Unexpected damage. This long-term wear-away can leave countless traders vulnerable and, even if they see a long-term trend, lose their will and capital in the short-term band, resulting in massive losses. At the same time, we can also see the great changes in a country's industry. In the future, we can imagine that soybean, corn, rice, wheat, sugarcane, rapeseed and even natural rubber planting will be defeated by overseas low-cost planting areas. It is difficult to measure the changes in an industry. Human factors are inevitable, but whether it is necessary to do so. Just like the natural rubber industry, Malaysia's acreage has fallen by half since many years ago, but Vietnam has risen rapidly. China's rubber industry will be quickly replaced by lower-cost places such as Vietnam, Northeast Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, and West Africa due to rising labor costs. When trying to protect rubber with trade barriers and policies, the downstream tire industry will be in trouble, thus making the entire Chinese rubber upstream and downstream lose competitiveness together. Such a large pattern is an obvious trend. Soybean in the entire development process, because of the demonization of biotechnology, anti-genetically modified Chinese will inevitably fall into the situation of the collapse of domestic soybeans in the Northeast. When China is completely dependent on overseas soybeans, and the big grain merchants in South America and the United States have a joint monopoly, China will be caught in a high price to obtain vegetable oil and protein intake. We should be thankful that the expansion of cultivation in South America is on the rise. With the decline of the overall competitiveness of China's grain industry in biotechnology, planting methods, and labor costs, China will have to pay a huge price to supplement these industries, because the deep-seated fear is that when a country's agriculture is defeated, monopolizing a country's food supply will become a profiteering industry. Today, I have said so much because commodity consulting will be completely terminated in the next 2016 and merged into the macroeconomic sector. The future of Oak Valley Consulting has only one large macro sector, combining macro, geopolitics, climate, and data to explain the logic of currencies, bonds, real estate, stock markets, and commodities.
2015-12-02
2003-2013 1/4 EU farmers disappear~1 in 4 EU farms disappeared between 2003 and 2013 ? Amy Forde ? 7:15 am - November 30, 2015 ? 1 in 4 EU farms disappeared between 2003 and 2013 One in four farms disappeared between 2003 and 2013 in the European Union (EU), figures from Eurostat show. This is despite the area used for agriculture remaining the same, according to Eurostat. In the EU, there were 10.8m farms in 2013 working 174.6m hectares of land (the utilised agricultural area). Between 2003 and 2013, slightly more than 4m farm holdings disappeared in the EU, while the total area used for agriculture remained almost stable. According to Eurostat, this means increasing agricultural concentration, with the average area per holding growing by 38%, from 11.7ha in 2003 to 16.1ha in 2013. Of the 10.8m farms in the EU, almost 3.5m (31.1%) were managed by persons aged 65 or over, the figures show. A further 2.6m (24.7%) were managed by farmers aged between 55 and 64, while those younger than 35 accounted for 6.0% of all farm managers. In 2013, the highest average utilised agricultural areas per holding were registered in the Czech Republic (with 133.0ha) followed by the UK (93.6ha). Between 2003 and 2013, the number of holdings decreased in all EU Member States, except Ireland where they increased by 2.9%. The largest decrease in the number of holdings was Slovakia where there was a decrease of 67.1%. In the UK the number of farm holdings decreased by 34%. This information, published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, comes from provisional results of the latest EU farm structure survey.
2015-12-02
Ukraine: Ready to guarantee food security in Turkey~~Ukraine says ready to act as guarantor of food security for Turkey in face of Russian sanctions ANADOLU AGENCY Published November 30, 2015 Ukraine is ready to fill any gaps in the Turkish food market caused by Russian sanctions, the Ukrainian agriculture and food minister said Monday. "Ukraine has enough products of suitable quality to meet the needs of Turkish consumers in case of export restrictions by the Russian Federation," Oleksiy Pavlenko said in a statement. He added: "If the traditional partners apply sanctions against Turkey and freeze supplies of cereals, Ukraine is ready to increase supplying of grain, corn and oil two times at least. "Turkey is an old and reliable partner of Ukraine and we are ready to act as a guarantor of food security for the country ." Pavlenko's remarks came after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced sanctions against Turkey on Sunday. Turkish companies operating in Russia and Turkish staff employed by Russian companies will face restrictions and there are limitations on specific Turkish exports. The sanctions followed the shooting down of a Russian warplane over the Turkey-Syria border last week and despite evidence from Turkey that the aircraft had violated Turkish airspace and received repeated warnings.