Agriculture

• Tuesday, August 27th 2019 - 11:47 UTC

  Argentina and Brazil replacing US as main soybean suppliers of China

  

  Amid trade tensions with the US, China's July soybean imports from Argentina increased 328% month on month and 269% year on year to 1.07 million metric tons, according to customs data.

• Monday, August 26th 2019 - 20:13 UTC

  Record number of fires in the Amazon rainforest coincides with a sharp drop in fines for environment violations

  

  The record number of fires in Brazil's Amazon rainforest has coincided with a sharp drop in fines for environmental violations, BBC analysis has found. Official data from Brazil's environment agency shows fines from January to 23 August dropped almost a third compared with the same period last year.

• Monday, August 26th 2019 - 19:13 UTC

  Brazilian warplanes dumpling water on the Amazon forest, but will it be enough?

  

  Brazilian warplanes are dumping water on the burning forest in the Amazon state of Rondonia, responding to a global outcry over the destruction of the world's largest tropical rainforest, according to a government video.

• Saturday, August 24th 2019 - 09:55 UTC

  G7 summit adds 'Amazon wildfires' to an already thorny agenda, which is scrapping a joint declaration

  

  G7 leaders gathering in France this weekend plan to hammer out “concrete measures” in response to the wildfires raging in the Amazon rainforest, putting them on a collision course with Brazil's rightwing leader.

• Thursday, August 22nd 2019 - 09:56 UTC

  Bolsonaro suggests green groups started the blaze in the Amazon to blame him

  

  Wildfires in the Amazon rainforest in northern Brazil have ignited a firestorm on social media, with President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday suggesting green groups started the blazes. Images of fires purportedly devouring sections of the world's largest rainforest have gone viral on Twitter.

• Thursday, August 22nd 2019 - 09:13 UTC

  Farmers furious with USDA estimates and frustrated about unsold crops caused by Trump's trade war

  

  The U.S. Agriculture Department said on Wednesday it had pulled all staff from an annual crop tour after an employee was threatened, and sources said the threat of violence was made during a phone call from an angry farmer.

• Thursday, August 15th 2019 - 12:15 UTC

  Global food commodity prices saw a slight decline in July

  

  The FAO's Food Price Index, (FPI) - a trade-weighted index that measures prices of five major food commodities on international markets - averaged 170.9 points in July 2019, slipping 1.1 percent below its level in June but up 2.3 percent from a year earlier.

• Thursday, August 15th 2019 - 10:14 UTC

  Paraguayan president beset with 69% disapproval rating and economic downturn

  

  Paraguay’s president, Mario Abdo, has reached his first year in office with a 69% disapproval rating amid an enduring political crisis and a significant economic slowdown, according to a survey published on Wednesday.

• Thursday, August 15th 2019 - 05:16 UTC

  Massive women's protests in Brasilia against Bolsonaro's policies

  

  Tens of thousands of women took to the streets of Brazil's capital on Wednesday to denounce President Jair Bolsonaro, in the third anti-government protest in the city in two days.

• Wednesday, August 14th 2019 - 09:40 UTC

  French farmers protest trade deals with Canada and Mercosur

  

  French anti-government protesters put up a large poster of Jean-Baptiste Moreau, one of President Emmanuel Macron's farming experts, with the word “Wanted” on it outside a local government building on Tuesday, as anger over recent trade deals escalates.