Traditional and staple foods

Australia

Oz government should copy UK’s practice of sourcing local produce

24-Jul-2014 By RJ Whitehead

Australia should follow Britain’s lead and put in place a plan to source government-procured food from local suppliers and producers, said AusVeg, the national peak industry body for Australian vegetable and potato growers.

Insight

ANZ Bank accused of abandoning farmers after splitting with sugar firm

21-Jul-2014 By Marta Kasztelan

Early this month, in what looks like a failed attempt to save its reputation, Australia‘s ANZ Bank severed its ties with Phnom Penh Sugar, a company accused of a range of human rights abuses linked to its plantations in Kampong Speu province, Cambodia.

Australia

Half of vegetables fail to get top marks in new star labelling system

18-Jul-2014 By RJ Whitehead

Not all vegetables available in Australian supermarkets will receive a top nutrition rating once a new health labelling system is rolled out in coming months.

Asia

Codex sets new maximum levels for lead and arsenic

17-Jul-2014 By RJ Whitehead

With the safety of infant formula and Asia’s reliance on rice never far from the headlines, the United Nations body responsible for food standards has now set new acceptable levels of lead in the former and arsenic in the region’s biggest crop.

Australia

Not enough youngsters starting work on Australia’s farms

17-Jul-2014 By Andrew Schreiber

Australia’s farm population remains “competitively young” compared to other developed economies, even as the number of younger farmers entering the agriculture sector continues to fall, a new report has found.

Australia

Tough year has seen veg growers’ profits plunge by more than 90%

10-Jul-2014 By RJ Whitehead

Australian vegetable growers are continuing to do it tough, with average profits plummeting, according to the latest data released by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural Resource Economics and Sciences (Abares).

India

Government to crack down on produce hoarders in bid to curb inflation

07-Jul-2014 By RJ Whitehead

One of India’s most senior politicians has urged state governments to take a tough stand on hoarders, who he claimed are behind the continuing price spikes of staples like onions and potatoes.

Southeast Asia

FAO urges smallholders unite to improve conditions, sustainability

02-Jul-2014 By RJ Whitehead

Indigenous peoples, local communities and private smallholders should actively form producer organisations, according to two new reports promoted by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation.

Analysis

No rice stock shocks yet in spite of El Niño

01-Jul-2014 By Samarendu Mohanty

In spite of fears that El Niño will deliver a possible monsoon failure in India and Southeast Asia, the fate of existing rice stocks have failed to perturb the market.

Australia

Foreign ownership might be up, but farms are still mostly Australian

26-Jun-2014 By RJ Whitehead

With foreign investment in Australian agriculture being among the most heated political issues in the country at the moment, new figures released by the Australia Bureau of Statistics might come as a surprise to many.

EU tomato import rules change to incorporate variety

26-Jun-2014 By Sarah Hills

New EU import rules for tomatoes will take into account different varieties rather than just standard round tomatoes when it comes to calculating customs rates.

Southeast Asia

WTO approval means Philippines can maintain high rice import duties

25-Jun-2014 By RJ Whitehead

The Philippines’ special treatment in rice, which allows the country to keep high duties on rice imports, is expected to continue after the World Trade Organisation’s Goods Council approved the country’s waiver request for its extension.

Australia-China

Scientists link poor nutrition with chronic diseases for first time

24-Jun-2014 By Richard Whitehead

International research involving the University of Adelaide has shown for the first time that poor nutrition, including a lack of fruit, vegetables and whole grains, is associated with the development of several chronic diseases over time.

India

El Niño factor predicted to drive up India's edible oil imports by 50%

19-Jun-2014 By RJ Whitehead

India’s import bill for edible oils is expected to grow by almost US$5bn this financial year as a result of the so-called El Niño factor.

Australia

Queensland wild rice could save crop if supply were to be compromised

11-Jun-2014 By RJ Whitehead

The unique history of Australia’s wild rice means it could play a key role in tackling global food security as part of future breeding programmes, according to a leading plant geneticist at the University of Queensland.

Agriculture

FAO and partners unlock carbon finance for herders and grazers

02-Jun-2014 By RJ Whitehead

Poor land management has left large swathes of the world's grasslands degraded—an environmental problem with direct implications for livestock-dependent communities. However, a project has now succeeded in developing a means to give farmers an incentive...

FAO chief urges global commitment to tackle nutrition challenges

22-May-2014 By Nathan Gray

FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva has called on countries to put nutrition high on their national and international agendas, and to take a lead role in the upcoming Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2).

Six months after Haiyan, Philippines agriculture is on the mend

07-May-2014 By RJ Whitehead

Tens of thousands of farmers are bringing in their first rice harvest just six months after one of the worst typhoons ever to hit the Philippines left their fields in tatters and their livelihoods at risk.

Special edition: Organic & non-GMO

The biggest fallacy about GMOs is that we need them to feed the world: WFP

07-May-2014 By Maggie Hennessy

For a growing global population facing dwindling resources, non-GMO plant-based proteins are the future, says 29-year-old non-GMO and organic soybean and corn supplier World Food Processing (WFP).

In pics: FAO recognises traditional farming in China, Korea and Iran

05-May-2014 By RJ Whitehead

Six traditional farming systems in China, Iran and South Korea known for their unique characteristics and approaches to sustainability have been designated Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture...

Fruit and veg found to help prevent pancreatic diseases

29-Apr-2014 By RJ Whitehead

A University of Auckland research team has found that people who eat both fruit and vegetables will have the best protection against common pancreatic diseases.

India’s ‘king of fruits’ exiled from Europe following produce ban

29-Apr-2014 By RJ Whitehead

India’s regulator responsible for agriculture exports has said it was not consulted ahead of the European Union’s decision this week to temporarily ban the import of Indian mangoes and vegetables due to pest concerns.

‘India’s cold chain only fit to store potatoes’

28-Apr-2014 By Andrew Schreiber

Despite recent investments and government measures, the majority of cold storage in India is fit only to store potatoes, the New-Delhi-based PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry said recently in a damning report.

Heavy metals from China's farmland put consumers in Australia at risk

24-Apr-2014 By RJ Whitehead

The risk of consuming harmful heavy metals by eating produce from China’s heavily polluted farmland is now so great that one Australian industry body has warned a parliamentary inquiry due to look into country-of-origin labelling laws that current requirements...

China to keep up high grain production tempo

23-Apr-2014 By Ankush Chibber

China will continue to maintain a high rate of self-sufficiency in major grain output in order to achieve its food security target over the next decade, according to an official government-backed report.

Analysis

Aus and NZ must have guts to nuke alien invaders

23-Apr-2014 By RJ Whitehead

Isolated from the rest of the world, New Zealand and Australia are critically at risk from alien invaders of the most threatening kind: biological pests from overseas that prey on the countries’ indigenous and vulnerable agricultural produce.

Pollution

China in a battle to save its farmland

18-Apr-2014 By Ankush Chibber

Mainland China has a nation-threatening soil pollution problem, with areas equivalent to double the size of Spain covered in polluted soil, a government survey has revealed.

Rice eaters’ diets more in line with Dietary Guidelines: study

18-Apr-2014 By Maggie Hennessy

Consumers who eat white or brown rice every day tend to have better overall diet quality and nutrient intake, according to a study of five-year data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Fears of Indian mango shortage after only 50% of crop is harvested

17-Apr-2014 By RJ Whitehead

India’s national fruit may break the bank later year with mangoes for domestic consumption in short supply owing to significant crop damage and rising export orders.

Analysis

FDI, combined with agri reforms, is the way to fix Indian supply chain

16-Apr-2014 By RJ Whitehead

Everybody goes on about India’s vexing issue of food storage, FoodNavigator-Asia included. The trouble is nobody has done much about the problem in generations, and there’s little in the way of improvement on the horizon.

World’s longest-running rice research project marks 150th harvest

15-Apr-2014 By RJ Whitehead

The International Rice Research Institute is marking the 150th harvest of its Long-Term Continuous Cropping Experiment (LTCCE), the world's longest-running rice research project.

Up to one-third of Indian grain being lost to substandard warehousing

10-Apr-2014 By RJ Whitehead

India needs around 43m tonnes of additional warehousing and storage capacity if it wants to reduce the amount of food grain that is at risk of being damaged by poor conditions.

Mars to source cocoa from India

10-Apr-2014 By Annie Harrison-Dunn

Mars follows in Cadbury footsteps as it looks to source cocoa from India, a crop that still only accounts for a tiny fraction of world production.

“Which way up was the umbrella? Did this review collect knowledge or shield us from it?”

BMJ vitamin D research attacked: 'un-nuanced', 'flawed', 'irresponsible'

07-Apr-2014 By Shane STARLING

The ‘umbrella’ review of vitamin D studies that found a myriad of health links for the sunshine vitamin were unconfirmed in the scientific literature, has been criticised for containing too many flawed studies that warped the overall findings.

Kiwis could make big grocery savings by avoiding the supermarket

03-Apr-2014 By RJ Whitehead

A New Zealand family of four could save as much as NZ$49 (US$41.80) per week by avoiding the supermarket when buying their fruit and vegetables, a new study suggests.

FAO: Nutrient deficiencies, stunted growth affect Europe and central Asia

03-Apr-2014 By Shane Starling

Few may go hungry but vitamin and mineral deficiencies and health problems like growth stunting in children are widespread among the 53 countries of Europe and central Asia, according to the FAO.

New Zealand government wants to unlock avocado potential

01-Apr-2014 By Ankush Chibber

The Avocado Industry Council announced today it will partner with the New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries in an effort to unlock potential in the country’s avocado industry.

Saudi must look east for grains

18-Mar-2014 By RJ Whitehead

The contribution of agriculture to Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product was last measured at 2.49% in 2010, according to the World Bank. Moreover, it is set to drop even lower once the country’s cultivation of wheat is phased out by 2016.

NZ strengthens agri-ties with Saudi Arabia

18-Mar-2014 By RJ Whitehead

The New Zealand government has committed NZ$6m (US$5.1m) to establish an agribusiness service hub in Saudi Arabia.

UAE date palm to be given UN honour

18-Mar-2014 By RJ Whitehead

Along with the camel and the world’s highest tower, the humble date is one of the most enduring icons of the UAE, and soon it will be recognised for its importance to international agriculture.

Amira expands into the UAE organic market

18-Mar-2014 By RJ Whitehead

Indian speciality rice major Amira Nature Foods has announced plans to enter the UAE’s organic food market as it focuses on gaining a larger market share across the wider Middle region.

Survey finds increasing detection of GMOs in traded food

17-Mar-2014 By RJ Whitehead

As more genetically modified crops are being grown around the globe, the number of incidents of low levels of GMOs is being detected in traded food and feed, according to a survey by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation.

FAO: Apac countries pushing forward to counter hunger

13-Mar-2014 By RJ Whitehead

The mission for an end to hunger in the Asia-Pacific region has received a boost after members of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation responded to a call by the its director-general, José Graziano da Silva, for a “massive effort” to end hunger...

China needs hybrid imports to support its growing food demand

13-Mar-2014 By RJ Whitehead

China’s ability to feed a growing population will depend on how it can drive the development of its hybrid model while ultimately relying on the development of its agricultural system, says Rabobank.

Australia could play a bigger role in food security

12-Mar-2014 By RJ Whitehead

Australia could increase its food security role in Asia, with food consumption modelled under specific scenarios to more than double by 2030, according to new research from the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Palm oil in troubled waters with new Sumatra death accusation

10-Mar-2014 By RJ Whitehead

Greenpeace has suggested that security forces in a palm oil concession linked to the supply of Wilmar International might have been complicit in the death of a member of the Sumatran indigenous community that has been fighting for the recognition of their...

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