Production of rice – the world’s most important crop for ensuring food security and addressing poverty – will be thwarted as temperatures increase in rice-growing areas with continued climate change, according to a new study by an international team of scientists. The research team found evidence that the net impact of projected temperature increases will be to slow the growth of rice production in Asia. Rising temperatures during the past 25 years have already cut the yield growth... ...Read more »

Around one million people in Siyang County, China, are now benefiting from the capacity of poplar forests to restore marginal flood plains and stabilize the banks of the Yellow, Huai and Yangtze rivers. Large swaths of planted poplar trees now protect fields once ravaged by floods, wind, sandstorms and soil erosion, giving boost to agricultural activities.”Poplars are very fast-growing and amazingly resilient,” said Jim Carle, Leader of the Forestry Management Team at FAO. “They... ...Read more »

The impact of unfavourable weather events on crops in recent weeks has led the UN Food and Agriculture Organizations (FAO) to cut its global wheat production forecast for 2010 to 651 million tonnes, from 676 million tonnes reported in June. But despite production problems in some leading exporting countries, the world wheat market remains far more balanced than at the time of the world food crisis in 2007/08 and fears of a new global food crisis are not justified at this point, FAO said. A continuing,... ...Read more »

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) is granting free and open access to its central data repository, FAOSTAT, the world’s largest and most comprehensive statistical database on food, agriculture, and hunger, the UN agency announced last week.Previously, it was possible to download without charge a limited amount of information from FAOSTAT – which contains over one million data points covering 210 countries and territories — but access to larger batches of statistics... ...Read more »

Australia is one of five more nations to recently sign the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)-brokered treaty that once it enters into force will deny access to fishing ports to ships involved in illegal fishing. The new signatories include: Australia (27/04/2010), Gabon (26/04/2010), Peru (3/03/2010), New Zealand (15/12/2009) and the Russian Federation (29/04/2010). This brings the number of countries that have signed the “Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent,... ...Read more »

Nearly 5 000 West African farmers are now able to take advantage of the growing popularity of organic foods in industrialized countries thanks to a $2.4 million German-backed Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) programme that has helped them meet necessary certification and other requirements. The market for organic and fair-trade products in developed countries is expected to grow by about five to ten percent per year over the next three years, offering new opportunities for smallholder farmers... ...Read more »

Sugar, dairy and oils were the catalysts for growth in global food prices last month, according to the latest release of the FAO Food Price Index, while cereals and meat prices remained stagnant. The Index now sits at a 15-month high. The Index of a basket of food commodities (sugar, dairy, meat, cereals and oils and fats) reached 171.9 points last month, up 29 points year-on-year and 33 from the lowest point during the downturn (February). “The main drivers were sugar, oilseeds and dairy which... ...Read more »

Tea prices reached record levels this year but should ease in 2010 as weather patterns returned to normal in the main tea-producing regions of Asia and Africa, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization has advised.The FAO Tea Composite price, the indicative world price for black tea, reached a high of $3.18 a kilogramme in September amid droughts in India, Sri Lanka and Kenya and underpinned by increased demand, compared to an average price of $2.38 per kilogramme in 2008. The concern is that... ...Read more »

Global food prices are on the ascent again with the FAO Food Price Index – a food basket composed of cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar – registering four straight monthly rises. Fortunately, market conditions are different from those that triggered the food price crisis that started two years ago, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in its December Food Outlook report published overnight (Australian time). The index averaged 168 points in November, the highest... ...Read more »

Bananas are expected to resist the impact of the global financial crisis more than other agricultural commodities, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization has said in a report.The UN agency predicts banana imports to decline slightly to 13.8 million tonnes in 2009, about 3.3% less than 2007. Banana imports by developed countries fell by 4.1%, 5.5% and 3.2% respectively. Developing countries on the other hand will continue to register an increase in demand for the fruit, with imports predicted... ...Read more »