Agriculture

• Thursday, June 25th 2009 - 06:43 UTC

  Paraguay hosts global conference to eradicate FMD in poor countries

  

  Paraguayan president Fernando Lugo opened Wednesday in Asuncion the world conference on “Foot and Mouth Disease; the way towards global control” organized by FAO and the World Organization for Animal Health, OIE.

• Wednesday, June 24th 2009 - 04:00 UTC

  South American wines help overcome the global crisis

  

  As the world grits its teeth and grabs another glass of something to chase the blues away, South American wine producers are watching exports bounce. International wine sales from places like Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Peru are up in the first quarter of 2009, and industry professionals are saying the crisis has been positive for them.

• Tuesday, June 23rd 2009 - 07:57 UTC

  New soybean strain completes regulatory submission in Brazil

  

  Monsanto announced Monday it has completed regulatory submission in Brazil for its insect-protected Roundup Ready 2 Yield(TM) soybeans. The stacked trait product provides both protection from feeding damage caused by lepidopteran insect pests (moths and butterflies) in Brazil and tolerance to Roundup(R) agricultural herbicides.

• Monday, June 22nd 2009 - 12:20 UTC

  Agriculture showing more resilience to economic crisis

  

  Because food is a basic necessity, the agriculture sector is showing more resilience to the global economic crisis than other industries. But the risks could increase if the economic downturn deepens, according to a new report by the OECD and FAO released this week.

• Sunday, June 21st 2009 - 11:28 UTC

  FAO forecasts second-highest record cereals crop for 2009/10

  

  With the second-highest recorded cereals crop expected this year and stocks replenished, the world food supply looks less vulnerable to shocks than it was during last year’s food crisis, FAO said in its Food Outlook report published this month. But some potential dangers remain, it also noted.

• Sunday, June 21st 2009 - 11:26 UTC

  Uruguayan farmers fearful of consolidation in meat sector

  

  The possible merger between the leading Brazilian meat groups, Marfrig and JBS Bertin could create the largest corporation in the world and among other things dominate over 30% of the Uruguayan cattle demand market.

• Thursday, June 18th 2009 - 14:54 UTC

  Brazil invests 7.6 billion USD in family farming

  

  The Brazilian government confirmed Wednesday that the fund to promote home farming and gardening will have at its disposal 7.6 billion US dollars. This represents a 525% increase since the administration of President Lula da Silva took office in 2003.

• Wednesday, June 10th 2009 - 07:55 UTC

  Argentina will consume Uruguayan beef for bicentenary celebration

  

  Argentina will celebrate its bicentenary consuming Uruguayan beef forecasted the president of the powerful farmers’ association Argentine Rural Society, Hugo Biolcati. Production won’t be enough to cover Argentina’s demand next year, “either we bring per capita consumption down from 70 kilos to 50 kilos, or we import beef and it won’t be cheap”.

• Sunday, June 7th 2009 - 19:16 UTC

  Chilean wine prices on sales to UK fall on average 31.2%

  

  Chilean bottled wine prices fell an average of 14.6% on the international market in April, while the quantity of bottled exports increased by 5.2%, according to a recent report by industry advocacy group Wines of Chile.

• Thursday, June 4th 2009 - 15:07 UTC

  Buffaloes introduced in Cuba have become a threat for crops

  

  A herd of wild buffalo has become a nightmare for peasants in the western Cuban province of Pinar del Rio because the beasts are invading and devouring their crops of tobacco and vegetables, reports the Communist Party daily Granma.