ASIA PACIFIC REGION: Following is a March 2017 compilation by APSA of relevant, timely and interesting seed and agriculture industry news leads from and involving various countries, including the Philippines, Cambodia, China, India, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam and Turkey.
News covers everything from field, cover and horticulture crops, biotechnology, research and development to climate change, paddy production, marketing and trade.
- Asia Pacific: Weather in Indian Ocean directly affects climate patterns in Australia; Flower seeds from Turkey feed Chinese demand; GM Poppy seeds from China fueling Opium production surge; American lobby in China pushes for ease on GM seed trade restrictions; Agricultural meteorologist forecasts weaker monsoon this year. Pakistan to export hybrid rice seeds to Philippines; seed technology the way forward for food security; Semiautonomous agriculture robot to be a 'game changer'; Akira Seeds acquired by Japanese holding company.
- ASEAN: Chemical free rice in Laos as economic factors impacting rice trade in Southeast Asia and Asia; Phytosanitary-based trade bans between Vietnam and India lifted; Vietnam seeks support from the Netherlands to develop vegetable seed production potential; Drones deployed to douse Malaysian paddy with chemicals; Local Myanmar government to retrieve vacant farmland; Quality rice seeds of drought-tolerant variety help Myanmar farmer increase yields by 40%, while water-wise solutions help farmers reduce waste; Increased rice research and production collaboration between the Philippines and Cambodia; Cambodian real estate agent proposes date farming as lucrative opportunity to tap into Indonesia market; Agriculture exports from Indonesia to Saudi Arabia on the up;
- India: Mustard seed prices rise 8% in two weeks on back of limited stocks and rising demand before futures take hit, as cottonseed oil prices fall. Potato farmers distressed from falling prices, seek locally produced seeds; Increased crop and seed supplies due to 'good weather' lead to decreased prices in local markets; Northeast India tribe preserves tradition with seed-sowing festival
- China: Researchers gain ground in the breeding of superior space mangoes; Ancient, 10,000-year-old rice strain with resistance and tolerance traits growing in popularity; China donates seeds, fertilizer rice to African nation; First International Rice Forum planned for April in the Hainan city of Sanya;
- Japan: Butterfly-sized drone can collect deposit pollen between flowers; Tokyo government to support, assist farmers in IP registration for protection abroad; Sowing seeds of "Gallant Sunflowers" spreads hope; Favorable weather cited for hearty white onion harvest; Promising research in Tokyo highlights potential of micro-algae as climate-resilient biofuel source
- Korean Peninsula: Koreas new biotech food product labelling requirements; Food-grains deficiency grows in North Korea; Specially-coated seeds from Sakata enable ethnic-Korean, Russian national grow tons of watermelons in the Ural Mountains of Russia;
- Australia: Fruit and veggie prices set to rise as Cyclone Debbie wreaks havoc on north Queensland cropland; Seed sharing program provides farmers with affordable direct access to quality genetics; Record grain harvest this year anticipated in South Australia, a boon for those who had been affected by 2016 bush fire; Sorghum prices rise due to dry, hot weather; Climate change responsible for stagnating wheat yield growth; Harvesting tomatoes near the desert-clime Outback with sun and seawater as inputs; Cover crops provide income and better soil health; First Victoria crop of medical grade cannabis to treat suffering children, food authority mulls legalization of hemp as food and Queensland get official nod to supply medical marijuana seeds to licensed growers; New short-season medium grain rice variety promising to meet Middle East demand; Australian cotton seed producer invite growers for tour of operations; Metropolitan of Perth marked as agricultural quarantine zone after solanaceous pest detected in vegetable crops
- New Zealand: Improved fodder beet crop yields demonstrated with early application of nitrogen and pottassium; Quinoa farming in Kiwi country; heavy rains not good for grape growers; Mesh covers prove promising protection in New Zealand from tomato-potato pest.
Asia Pacific
When forecasting dry and wet weather patterns in the southern part of the Asia Pacific region
, it is important to take into account not only the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) but also the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) system, says the technical specialist of CottonInfo in Australia. John Welsh affirmed that
weather from the Indian Ocean directly affects precipitation and thus cropping in Australia, so should be taken into account, along with other systems such as ENSO, to determine weather the upcoming season will be dry or wet.
In the Turkish village of Başköy in Bursa Province, there are 12 greenhouses, each containing about 4,000 flowerpots that serve as the main source of income for locals. The flowers are cultivated for export as well as for seeds, which are mainly sold to
customers in China and elsewhere in Anatolia, providing household incomes of about $1,376 per month.
Genetically-modified poppy seeds thought to originate from China are being cited by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as as one of the main reasons why opium production is thought to have grown by 43% last year. The seeds, which reportedly
started appearing in Afghanistan in 2015, have been engineered to enable the growing of poppies year-round. Though to be cultivated in Taliban-controlled territories, opium and heroin are smuggled throughout the world to supply an increased number of users – in Pakistan, Russia, Europe and North America, according to a CNBC report.
An American business lobby in China has urged Beijing to ease trade restrictions on certain agriculture products, including GMO seeds and produce. The American Chamber of Commerce in China holds
that the number of approvals of import applications for restricted or banned foreign biotechnology products has been on the decline, greatly limiting business opportunities between the two countries.
US-based agricultural meteorologist forecasts "below normal" rainfall in Asia midyear Kyle Tapley of the US-based MDA Weather Services said that a weak El Nino weather pattern mid year will result in reduced rainfall but
would not likely have a strong impact on crop production in places like India, Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia, all of which have suffered from severe drought and flooding in recent years.
Pakistan's Guard Agricultural Research & Services revealed that it will supply an undisclosed quantity of hybrid-rice seed to the Philippines, which plans to increase it production for the 2018 crop. A deal was finally struck after Philippines
experts recently assayed seed production procedures in Pakistan, which had increased its cultivation area and output of hybrid rice, to 302,000 hectares and 1.41 tonnes in 2014-2015, up from only 84,000 ha and 454,000 tonnes in 2008-2009.
Biotechnology, innovative climate-wise seeds and modern marketing mechanisms are key to the future of food security in the Asia Pacific region, underlines a feature
article in the Bangkok Post. Among the telling indicators highlighted include a
farmer-to-consumer e-commerce platform model in China; a recently-launched, extreme-weather-and-disease-
tolerant rice variety eight years in the making, as well as plantation-probing drones in Singapore; locale-focused trade associations in Taiwan; indoor plant factories in Japan and Vietnam...
An "Agbot" being developed by Turkish, Indian and American scientists at the Carle R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology University of Illinois in the USA will be capable of collecting and processing phenotypic and environmental data from crops. Equipped with hyperspectral, HD thermal cameras, the robot will move between crop rows, programmed to survey, identify, collect and
process phenotype info from plants, including stem diameter and height, as well as leaf area, in addition to soil moisture and alkalinity profiles. The data is processed using software, managed and tweaked by a human breeder or tech-saavy farmer.
Spanish veg seed company with Japanese name acquired by Japanese holding company: United Genetics Holding LLC, which is part of the major Japanese agro-food group, Kagome, has aquired Spanish vegetable seed company, Akira Seeds, which prior to the acquisition, was
Japanese in name only. The newly-acquired subsidiary will utilize its new research resources to focus mainly on the tomato and pepper markets.
ASEAN
A select number of farmers taking part in a Swiss-funded "chemical-free rice" project in Laos have begun to reap increased demand, orders and income. As part of the Regional and Local Economic Development – East-West Economic Corridor of the Mekong Institute, Lao rice farmers are being
equipped and trained with growing methods that do not depend on the heavy use of chemicals. Similar endeavors have contributed to improved livelihoods from
organic rice farming in the Thai province of Surin.
Meanwhile, thanks to increased demand from Sri Lanka and China, exports of rice from Myanmar are on the up, with the volume exported during the 2016-2017 season estimated to have
increased by 25,000 tonnes, to nearly 1.5 million tonnes worth about US$700 million. Still, the figure is not as high as had initially been forecast by the government.
Traders of rice in Southeast Asia and South Asia continue to closely monitoring
economic factors affecting rice prices in the world's three top exporting countries of India, Thailand and Vietnam.
Phytosanitary-based trade bans on several agriculture commodities between India and Vietnam have
finally been lifted following corrective measures taken by concerned authorities. Earlier in March, Vietnam suspended the import of peanut pods and seeds, as well as seeds of cassia, cocoa, bean and the fruit of tamarind following reports of produce found contaminated with the insect Caryedon serratus. India reacted to the suspension by banning imports of pepper, coffee, bamboo, cassava, cinnamon and dragon fruit from Vietnam, which had reportedly had a huge impact on traders, especially those dealing in pepper. India is reportedly
Vietnam's third largest market.
The Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture has sought the support of its Dutch counterparts in increasing its ability and capacity to produce vegetable seed , especially that of potatoes, for
domestic consumption and export. Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyễn Xuân Cường on March 22 met with the Netherlands deputy agriculture minister Marjolijn Sonnema during a visit to the Southeast Asian nation.
Drones to ease paddy chemical spraying labor shortage. The Muda Agricultural Development Authority – which is a Malaysian government body responsibile for agriculture infrastructure and irrigation projects in the northwestern states of Kedah and Perlis – has acquired six drones, valued at RM80,000 each, and which will be used to address a shortage in farm labor by being
programmed to spray pesticides on paddy crops. The drones, which can carry up and disperse up to 10 liters of chemicals at a time, are reportedly capable of spraying up to 20 hectares a day.
Seeds of a drought-tolerant rice variety, supplied by an international NGO, are credited for enabling one Myanmar farmer in the heart of the country's "Dry Zone" to be able to i
ncrease his yields by 40%. Some 10 million farmers in the region reportedly depend on rainy-season crops, which have been adversely impacted by the changing climate in recent years. Other effective solutions being employed include the
using of water sensors and closed growing systems like hydroponics, which can help farmers save on unnecessary water wastage.
Indonesia and Saudi Arabia agriculture trade thriving, notes Minister. Marking the occasion of a recent visit by Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz al Saud to the world's most populous Muslim nation, Indonesia Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman revealed that the
export volume of Indonesian agriculture commodities in 2016 amounted to a total of 291,000 tonnes, valued at $270.72, which included produce from horticulture and field crops. He noted that the export of food crops to Saudi Arabia had risen by 12% year-on-year.
The government of the Myanmar State of Kachin is looking to repossess nearly 200,000 hectares (480,000 acres) of unused land that had initially been granted to the private sector for the
cultivation of perennial crops. The government had initially offered 303 private companies up to 590,000 acres, or nearly 240,000 hectares, but only about 100,000 acres was utilized, and taxed, accordingly.
Rice producers in the Philippines and Cambodia look to increase collaboration in trade, research, crop management, hybrid seed production and certification. A Cambodian delegation led by Agriculture Secretary Dr. Ty Sokhun on February 20 met with a Philippines delagation led by Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol on a visit to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Baños. The Cambodian delegation expressed interest in learning about new rice production technologies. In Cambodia, 70% of the
paddy fields are rain-fed with hybrid rice utilization estimated at about 30%.
According to calculations of Leng Mong Neath, a Cambodian real estate agent, an
investment of only $4,000 per hectare for date-producing palm trees could yield an annual return of $30,000. This is
his pitch to potential farmers who might want to try their hand at this potentially lucrative crop, which is in high demand among Muslims, particularly during Ramadan. Mr Neath said he has already confirmed interest from buyers in Indonesia...
Last Updated on March 27, 2017
Japan
A
Senior Researcher at Japan's National Institute of Advanced Science and Technology in Tsukuba has developed a butterfly-sized drone that has the ability to collect and
transfer pollen from flower to flower. Eijiro Miyako, 37, created an adhesive gel, which he affixes to the bottom of the tiny drone which he controls remotely. Upon contact with the target flower the adhesive collects pollen grains and the drone is able to deposit said grains onto other flowers upon contact.
Tokyo Govt to assist farmers in IP registration to protect Japanese seeds: In a push to increase Japan's agriculture exports to 1 trillion yen (about US$8.78 billion) up from about 750 billion yen ($6.5 billion) at present, the government of Tokyo will employ measures that will support and assist Japanese farmers in registering Intellectual Property Rights to enable legal protection in markets abroad. Registration of a
new seed or seedling variety reportedly costs between 1 and 2 million yen (aprox. $8,700-$17,400) and the Tokyo government will foot these costs for certain, eligible products, and will advise and assist farmers in preparing the necessary paperwork. The initiative follows reports of copycat products of leading Japanese brands of fruit being sold abroad. The products, of which Benihoppe strawberries and Shine Muscat grapes were mentioned, are believed to have been produced in China and South Korea from seeds and seedlings acquired from Japan.
Sunflowers that blossomed on post-2011-tsunami wasteland in the Tohoku region, have been the symbol for positivism and hope for many in Japan and abroad. The seeds of the sunflowers, named by locals, "Dokonjo Himawari", which means "Gallant Sunflowers", have been
distributed around Japan and abroad...
Warm weather and adequate rain was cited as the reason why white onions, which have a three year growing-seeding cycle, have grown rapidly
this winter in southern Hamamatsu. Since the seeds of the favored vegetable are not available commercially, farmers spend a lot of time and labor to ensure they can grow the vegetable every year.
Scientists at the Tokyo Institute of Technology have unraveled some of the complicated chemistry behind the carbon-conversion capabilities of certain photosynthetic plants.
Aiming to exploit the huge alternative energy potential of climate-resiliant plants, researchers, led by Professor Hiroyuki Ohta, examined a particular type of microalgae that can accumulate triacycglycerol oils of up to 50% of its dry weight, and thus showing promise as an ideal source of biofuel.
This page was last updated on March 27, 2017
Korean Peninsula
Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety published guidelines for new biotech food product labeling requirements that were finalized in February, and being initially implemented with a one-year grace period. The translation of the guidelines into English and other
relevant facts and figures have been published by the USDA in a March report, titled "Korea's New Biotech Labeling Requirements".
According to the USDA and UN, the food-grains deficiency in North Korea grew more than 12-fold, reaching an estimated 392,000 tonnes in 2015-2016 Marketing Year, up from 29,000 tonnes the previous year. The surge was
blamed on last year's massive drought and a downtrend in traceable food imports. Also, a flood late last year is also expected to have a huge impact potato production.
A specially-designed, climate-wise film coating technology is credited for the successful summer cultivation of
watermelons in the mild Ural mountain region, 1,000 kilometers east of Moscow. Sim Oyra, an Ethnic-Korean,Russian national who took the chance to grow the subtropical-tropical fruit to meet high demand in Bashkortostan, acquired the seeds from Sakata in South Korea, every summer sowing about 16,000 seeds, each of which are reported to yield nearly 20kg of fruit.
China
Building on more than three decades of research, scientists at a lab in Hainan have grown tissues from the embryonic cells of mango seeds that spent more than a month in space on the Chinese spacecraft, Shenzhou-11. The
researchers are looking to screen for "superior" mutations triggered as a result of the "out of this world" experience, with the aim of breeding insect-resistant, climate tolerant space mangoes.
Rice lines from the country of Wannian, in the eastern part of Jiangxi province, are believed to be among the oldest cultivated grains in the world, roots of which can be traced to around 10,000 years ago. Its ancient history of cultivation may be a key factor in its ideal genetic profile, which includes
resistance to multiple diseases and pests, as well as tolerance to cold weather. Today, its popularity is growing as more and more farmers grow it, reinforced by entrepreneurs and government protection measures. Organic, pure lines can fetch anywhere from 3-10 times more than other varieties in the market.
The Chinese government will donate 6,300 tonnes of rice to Sierra Leone as part of its ongoing support to develop the African nation's agriculture sector. The gift was recently
revealed by Chinese Ambassador Wu Peng, who had granted Sierra Leone an undisclosed amount of vegetable seeds and chemicals.
The inaugural International Forum on Rice is scheduled to be held in China April 11-14. The city of Sanya, in China’s Hainan province, will host the event, which is being organized jointly by members of the public and private sector under the theme, “Southern Propagation as World Sources, Chinese Rice for Global Food”. Heading the event’s organizing committee is the honorable “Father of Hybrid Rice”, Yuan Longping, along with fellow academicians from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, including Wan Jianmin, Liu Xu, Zhu Yingguo, Li Jiayang, Song Bao-an, Zhang Hongcheng, Chen wen-fu, Luo Xiwen and Xie Hua-an. To be held at the Beauty Crown Tree Hotel, the event will look to bring together rice breeders from over 30 countries, in addition to policy experts, reps of major enterprises and industry monitors, who will be invited to give keynote speeches in different sessions. In addition to an exhibition aimed at 500 guests, the event will showcase new varieties, technologies and breeding breakthroughs, while also planning for the establishment of an international rice industry union. For more information, visit the
event’s webpage here. For the announcement in Chinese language,
click here
India
The cost of mustard seed rose by as much as 8% earlier this month on the back of limited stocks and increasing demand. Traders
quoted prices of mustard seed at local markets ranging between INR3,400 and INR3,800 ($52-$58) per quintal (100kg), depending on the oil content. The government has forecast that the country will output 7.9 million tonnes in 2016-2017 compared to about 6.8 million tonnes the previous year.
The swelling of mustard seed spot quotes in contrast to cottonseed oil, which this month had been
on the decline, with cottonseed mill delivery oil in Haryana falling by INR50 to INR6,650 ($102) per 100kg.
Meanwhile mustard seed future prices in the last week of March slid by INR16 to 3,996 per 100kg, a contraction which was credited to
trader speculation and sluggish demand in physical markets, among other factors.
Producing better quality potato seed locally has been urged as the way forward in ensuring farmers get better returns. Potato seeds can constitute as much as 40% of production costs for some farmers, particularly
when they are imported from other states. Farmers became distressed this crop season when their average returns were more than cut in half from the previous season, from INR 350-370, down to just INR 170-180 per 50kg pack.
Record Deliveries of seeds, crops reported at local ag markets
The regional seed market or "Mandi" in the Indian city of Barwani is reporting record deliveries of fennel seed, citing bumper
crop production in various locales, including Dewas, Khargone, Dhar and Barwani. India is a leading producer and exporter of fennel seeds, which are sought for their aromatic, culinary and nutritional value.
Bumper crops are also cited for a boost in delivery of pulses at Mandi in North Karnataka, citing low incidents of pest and
attacks and favorable weather. However, the increased supply has resulted in prices plummeting by half from the year before, when supplies were limited due to bad weather.
Good weather cited for bolstered winter oilseed planting, production
According to a
USDA report, 2016-2017 Rabi or winter season oilseed crops – including rapeseed, mustard, peanut, and sunflower – were planted on 7.8 million hectares. This represents a 6.4% increase from the previous year, when Rabi oilseedcrops were planted on 7.05mn hectares. Rapeseed and mustard production during 2016-2017 is expected to reach 6.8 mmt, which would represent a 15% rise, y-o-y. About 65% of the planting area of these crops was in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh.
The improved crop is credited to favorable southwesterly monsoon weather, strong market prices and above average temperatures during planting stage.
To further encourage planting, the govt has raised a Minimum Support Price subsidy for rapeseed and mustard this year to INR3,700 per quintal, the equivalent of about US$5,540 per 100 kilograms. The USDA specifically underlined an increase in the planting of taramira (Eruca sativa) and toria (Brassica rapa), which accounted for about 9% of the total rapeseed and mustard planted.
In Rajasthan alone, the planting of taramira reached 236,20ha, nearly a 14-fold increase over about 17,000 hectares planted the previous year. Similarly, the planting area of toria in eastern Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, and a few other eastern Indian states grew y-o-y by 236% to 404,000 hectares, from 120,000ha the previous year.
Peanut production is expected to grow y-o-y by 35% up to 6mmt this year, which was not quite as much as initially forcast due to reduced winter planting in Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Chhattisgarh.
Sunflower production is expected to reach 240,000 MT from 304,000ha. Sunflower production in India has been declining by between 15% and 18% annually for the past 10 years.
Preserving Sino-Indo tribal tradition with annual seed-sowing festival
Marking a new paddy-sowing in Northeast India, members of the Sino-Indo tribe, Thangkhul Nagas, recently celebrated their ancient old
seed-sowing festival known as "Luira Phanit", a two-week period of festivities that aim to enshrine age-old agriculture-base traditions and heritage of the people who originated in China and finally settled in Northeast and North India via Myanmar.
This page last updated on March 27, 2017
Australia
[caption id="attachment_3913" align="alignright" width="400"]
Cyclone Debbie made landfall on March 29 with windspeeds upwards of 200km per hour. Windmap from earth.nullschool.net[/caption]
Prices of various fruits and vegetables are expected to rise in the coming weeks as the result of cropland destruction brought on by Cyclone Debbie, which made landfall in northern Queensland this morning with wind speeds reaching between 160 and 220 kilometres per hour,
bringing with it torrential rain and flooding. National Farmers' Federation Chief Executive, Tony Mahar, told ABC Australia that the damage to crops alone is estimated to reach AU$1 billion (US$764mn), impacting production of banana, sugarcane, capsicum, tomato, eggplant cucumber, corn, beans and pumpkin, among other types of produce and fruit grown in the region, where a large portion of the country's "winter crops" are sourced.
Citing successes in South and West Australia, Australian Grain Technologies is encouraging more farmers to join its "Seed Sharing" program which enables participating farmers to acquire a large quantity of new
seeds directly from fellow-farmers. The program has proven an effective and swift solution for enabling farmers to gain access to the latest crop genetic material at an affordable price.
South Australia is banking on a record cereal harvest in the 2016-2017 season, with the State's crop and pasture January 2017 report estimating grain production of about 11.1 million tonnes worth AU$2.2 billion (US$1.67bn) from 3.9 million hectares planted area. If realized, pending harvest data for the fiscal year being finalized in June, 2017, the output
would be 800,000 tonnes more than the previous record of 10.3mn t reported in 2010-2011. The optimistic estimate was reinforced by record grain harvests this month in the district of Pinery, where 85,000 hectares of cropland had been devastated by a bush fire in November, 2015. Some wheat farmers there this season, however, are reporting yields of up to 7.5 t per hectare.
Concerns over reduced productivity due to dry and hot weather were cited for rising grain prices in Queensland and northern New South Wales the second week of March. In contrast to
falling grain prices in North America due to great expectations for
corn and soy output in South America, bids for sorghum in Australia rose by AU$5-10 ($3.77-7.54).
Meanwhile, the CEO of Citrus Australia, Judith Damiani told FreshfruitPortal.com that the current citus season is running a few weeks behind schedule, citing a mild spring and
extended flowering period that has caused delays in the harvest of not only citrus fruits, but also grapes in southern Australia.
Pesticide drift from cotton farms in southern New South Wales is suspected as a factor in the demise of some bee colonies. However, it is still inconclusive whether the
spraying of neonicotinoid insecticides, which are banned in France but not in North America, are responsible for these most recent cases, or if it other known biotic factors such as
Varroa mites.
Despite reports of bumper crops, wheat
yield growth in Australia has actually been stagnating, a study by CSIRO has revealed. Citing climate change, the study, which monitored 50 sites across Australia's wheat zone from 1990-2015, found that a 28% decline in rainfall, coupled with a 1-degree rise in temperature ensured that improved yeilds from R&D investment were only able to cancel out crop losses and yield declines linked to climate change.
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="328"]
Cannabis seeds. Photo Credit: Australian Government[/caption]
The State of Victoria has recently harvested its first crop of medical-grade marijuana (referring to the oil-rich flowers of Cannabis Sativa and Cannabis Indica plants), part of which will be used to
supply medicine to 29 children suffering from epilepsy.
Since the federal government formally legalized the sell of medical marijuana earlier this year, local patients have depended on imports of premium-grade cannabis oil from abroad, as the country prepares to ramp up domestic production to supply expanding demand for high quality crop.
Meanwhile, Food Standards Australia New Zealand will
meet in April to consider a proposal to permit hemp seeds as a food in Australia. If given the nod, the proposal would then be passed on to the Australian Department of Health to complete amendments to existing legislation that requires the packaging of
hemp seeds to carry labels such as "not for human consumption". Seeds of hemp contain little to none of the psychoactive compounds associated with the flowers of the plant.
The proposal has been
welcomed by farmers groups and the government in Tasmania.
Meanwhile, in Queensland, the State Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries on March 24 confirmed that licensed industrial cannabis growers in the State may now legally
supply medical-grade, IP-protected cannabis seeds to researchers and growers who plan to supply the budding national market, which is set to expand rapidly following the recent amendment of the Drugs Misuse Act 1986 to permit medical marijuana for patients suffering from serious conditions.
Savvy vegetable farmers in Queensland and cherrry farmers Tasmania have started taking control of the destiny of their once-vulnerable field and horticulture crops. Thanks to the protection of a North-American designed "Cravo House", the farmers can cultivate and
protect tonnes of crops in controlled and protected conditions, while exposed crops in other neighboring farms continue to suffer from stress induced by increasingly erratic weather and climate. The investment for these houses is about $400,000 to $500,000 per hectare, but the potential returns are reportedly worth it for large scale operations.
One farmer in South Australia has confirmed the dual benefit of planting cover crops on his field, not only to generate supplemental
income during the summer by selling sorghum, sunflowers, tillage, radish and field peas, but also to build up the soil profile of his farm.
YRM70 is a new medium-grain variety of rice that could be a game changer for the Australian rice export market. After all the variety, which took seven years to develop, reportedly has a shorter growing cycle,
allowing farmers to sow 1-2 months later than they usually would in October, and is reportedly tolerant to cold weather, and since it takes less time to cultivate, should reduce water and irrigation expenses among farmers. The new variety is undergoing field trials now in New South Wales, and producers hope the new variety will help fulfill demand in Japan and the Middle East.
The Cotton Seed Distrubutors (CSD), an Australian producer of cotton seeds, recently invited reps from ten cotton producer trade associations, or Cotton Grower Associations (CGA), to v
isit and tour seed production operations in at CSD's head office in New South Wales. The tour provided opportunity for the reps to learn about the latest in seed production, processing and storage.
"The Perth metropolitan area has been
declared an agricultural quarantine zone until the of end of June following the widespread detection of the destructive "tomato potato psyllid" plant pest. Following earlier reports of detecting the pest on Perth crops,
more cases this week were reported at commercial and backyard vegetable production sites. The infestation is the first of its kind in West Australia. The pest had been detected in New Zealand a decade ago, and it has been estimated that the pest has since cost crop managers more than NZ$60 million a year to keep it under control.
A specially designed greenhouse in South Australia is taking advantage of solar tower power technology and seawater to cultivate tomatoes in a greenhouse. The farm in Port Augusta has launched commercial cultivation of the crops
following a six year pilot in which it developed and demonstrated a method that removes salt from seawater to irrigate the crop, utilizing energy harvested from the sun.
New Zealand
Forage crop trials at a fodder beet farm near the town of Opunake in New Zealand's Taranaki region, have demonstrated the value of early fertilizer application. Namely, yields of nearly 15 tonnes of
dry matter per hectare were realized at one farm thanks to application of 300kg of nitrogen /ha in two 150kg batches. Similar trials were carried out using potassium, which though did not result in any significant increase in yields, did show that the crops' uptake of the fundamental element had improved as a result of early application.
Inspired by their travels in South America, one couple is cultivating the superfood Quinoa on
10 hectares of farmland in New Zealand. Though 90% of the world's crop is cultivated in South America, some limited success of growing the super food has been experienced elsewhere.
Mixed reports on crop damage following rainy weekend in New Zealand: Even though the
New Zealand Herald reported that the country's
horticulture industry emerged unscathed following a weekend of heavy downpours throughout the country, there are contrary reports surfacing. Namely, the Gisborne Winegrowers Association said that the
rains have reduced grape quality and have forced wine growers to delay harvest.
New Zealand researchers underline effectiveness of mesh cover to protect potato crops from pests. Really, it's that simple, Lincoln University researchers report, revealing that by
covering a potato trial crop with a mesh cover, the crop was 99% protected from a neighboring crop infested with tomato-potato psyllid.
This page last updated on March 29, 2017
