Reading Time: 2 minutes Oslo | Reuters — The El Nino weather phenomenon that is likely to strike this year damages world maize, rice and wheat yields but boosts soybeans, according to a study on Thursday that could help farmers plan what to grow. The Japanese-led report gave what it called a first global set of maps linking yields […] Read more
El Nino weather hits many crops, boosts soybeans: study
Decline in biodiversity of farmed plants, animals gathering pace
Reading Time: 2 minutes A decline in the diversity of farmed plants and livestock breeds is gathering pace, threatening future food supplies for the world’s growing population, the head of a new United Nations panel on biodiversity said Monday. Preserving neglected animal breeds and plants was necessary as they could have genes resistant to future diseases or to shifts […] Read more
‘Peak farmland’ is here, crop area seen diminishing
Reading Time: 3 minutes The amount of land needed to grow crops worldwide is at a peak, and a geographical area more than twice the size of France will be able to return to its natural state by 2060 as a result of rising yields and slower population growth, a group of experts said on Monday. Their report, conflicting […] Read more
Wheat scientists seek to slow Ug99 in Africa, Asia
Reading Time: 2 minutes Wheat experts are stepping up monitoring of a crop disease first found in Africa in 1999 to minimise the spread of a deadly fungus that is also a threat in Asia, experts said on Friday. A "Rust-Tracker" using data supplied by farmers and scientists could now monitor the fungus in 27 developing nations across 103 […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
