Tag: agriculture

Dozens of dead pigs wash up in northern China river

BEIJING, China (AFP) — Dozens of dead pigs mysteriously emerged on a riverbank in northern China, state media reported Monday, sparking an investigation and social media speculation about how they perished. China has seen similar scandals in the past which have exposed some of the unsavoury practices in its food industry, including the shocking 2013 incident in which thousands of dead pigs were pulled out of a Shanghai river. The country’s pig population is slowly […]

Agri sector group presses probe of DA due to alleged anomalies in pork importation

  (Eagle News) — The Department of Agriculture should be investigated for alleged anomalies in the pricing of pork imports, according to the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG), a group of farmers and others involved in the agriculture sector. SINAG chair Rosendo So said that they think there is a “tara system” in the DA since the price of imported pork only has a landed cost of P106 per kilo within the 30 percent tariff […]

Kenya’s locust hunters on tireless quest to halt ancient pest

by Fran BLANDY MERU, Kenya (AFP) — As dawn breaks in central Kenya, a helicopter lifts off in a race to find roosting locusts before the sun warms their bodies and sends them on a ravenous flight through farmland. Pilot Kieran Allen begins his painstaking survey from zebra-filled plains and lush maize farms, to dramatic forested valleys and the vast arid expanses further north, his eyes scouring the landscape for signs of the massed insects. […]

Pres. Duterte studying recommendation to impose price freeze on pork, chicken, says Sen. Go

https://youtu.be/jwC6ulgzvfw     (Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte is now mulling the issuance of a price freeze for pork and chicken because of the unexplained rise in the prices of these meat products, according to Senator Christopher “Bong” Go. The senator who is the President’s former aide said that he had already relayed to President Duterte the public’s complaints about the high prices of pork and chicken, and even of fish and vegetables. Go […]

PHL now bird-flu free, says Dep’t of Agriculture

(Eagle News) — There are no more cases of the Avian Influenza (AI) A(H5N6) virus or bird flu in the country, according to the Department of Agriculture. The DA said that as early as Jan. 8 this year, the World Organization for Animal Health has declared that the “country is now free of the last remaining A(H5N6) strain of the Avian Influenza (AI).” In a statement released on Tuesday, Jan. 19, the DA said that […]

DA mobilizing more food supplies, agri products from areas spared by typhoon for Luzon markets

  (Eagle News) — Agriculture Secretary William Dar said that they are mobilizing more food supplies from areas which were not hit by the recent strong typhoons that hit Luzon. Dar said that “highland vegetables” or those coming from the Cordillera region were not that damaged by the recent typhoons, and that they just need to be transported to the various markets in Luzon. The agriculture chief said that the slight rise in prices at […]

Prices of vegetables spike in the aftermath of successive strong typhoons

  (Eagle News) — Prices of vegetables spiked in the recent days because in the aftermath of successive strong typhoons that ravaged the country, damaging vast areas of agricultural land. Some prices even almost doubled including vegetables coming from Baguio and the Mountain Province, and other vegetables used in local dishes and sources in Luzon that had been badly hit by Typhoon Rolly and Ulysses. The effect can be seen in local markets.  A visit […]

Storm Pepito leaves at least P121.7 million agri, infra damage in Luzon

  (Eagle News) – Storm Pepito has caused close P121.7 million damage to agriculture and infrastructure, mostly in Region 2 or in Cagayan Valley, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC). The damage to agriculture alone amounted to P92.46 million in Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino. Damage to infrastructure amounted to 29.24 million in Ifugao and Isabela. But the NDRRMC said that this is just the initial amount based on […]

Changing economy and climate hit Austria’s Alpine pastures

by Blaise GAUQUELIN Agence France-Presse PERTISAU, Austria (AFP) — With tender care, Sepp Rieser adorns the bulky heads of his reluctant cows with flower wreaths, adds some more fir twigs, and adjusts the large bells around their necks. “I’ve been doing this since I was a little boy,” Rieser says of the ancestral tradition in which cattle are decorated for their journey from the high Alpine Gramai pasture in Austria’s western Tyrol state, where they graze […]

Green shoots: Rooftop farming takes off in Singapore

by Martin Abbugao SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — On the rooftop of a Singapore shopping mall, a sprawling patch of eggplants, rosemary, bananas and papayas stand in colourful contrast to the grey skyscrapers of the city-state’s business district. The 10,000 square-foot (930 square-meter) site is among a growing number of rooftop farms in the space-starved country, part of a drive to produce more food locally and reduce heavy reliance on imports. The government has championed the […]

Environmental groups, big ag unite for Amazon in Brazil

BRASILÍA, Brazil (AFP) — An unprecedented coalition of 230 environmental groups and Brazilian agrobusiness companies have sent an open letter to President Jair Bolsonaro urging him to fight deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. The Brazil Climate, Forests and Agriculture Coalition brings together a disparate group of members ranging from the World Wildlife Fund to the world’s biggest meat processing company, JBS, which has itself been accused of contributing to deforestation. The coalition sent Brazil’s far-right […]

In Brazil, pandemic forces ‘pink farm’ to get creative

SAO, PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — At a warehouse on the west side of Sao Paulo, fruits and vegetables grow within a tower stacked 10 storeys high with plants, all bathed in an ethereal pink light. This is Pink Farms, the first vertical farm in the teeming Brazilian city of 12 million people, where land is scarce and produce usually has to be shipped in from afar. The farm consists of two towers, each about the […]