Tag: agriculture

Zimbabwe to return land to farmers protected by investment deals

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AFP) — Zimbabwe said Tuesday that only foreign farmers protected by international investment treaties qualified to retrieve land seized by the government two decades ago. Former president Robert Mugabe launched land reforms in 2000, grabbing parcels from 4,000 white farmers on the grounds that he was reversing historical land ownership imbalances that favoured the minority whites. On Monday, the government said white farmers could apply to regain the titles to their land. Information ministry […]

DA asks public to make sure meat products they buy have NMIS approval as ban on Brazil poultry imposed

DA issues guidelines as precautionary measure against COVID-19   (Eagle News) — The Department of Agriculture has imposed a “temporary ban” on the importation of poultry meat from Brazil after several reports that said that SARS-COV-2 was detected on chicken wings imported from that country. It also asked all meat processing plants in the country and slaughterhouses to make sure that the meat products they process are free from COVID-19, and that all workers involved […]

Azerbaijan villagers plead for water as vital river dries up

by Isgender GANBAROV with Emil GULIYEV in Baku Agence France-Presse BANKA, Azerbaijan (AFP) — The village of Banka in Azerbaijan should have plentiful supplies of water as it lies beside one of the country’s mightiest rivers, the Kura. But the river has shallowed dramatically this summer and has become contaminated with salty seawater, in what experts warn is an unfolding ecological disaster. “Our animals are dying. We don’t get water in time,” said farmer Maryam Hasanova, […]

Nepal offers locust bounty as swarms threaten crops

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AFP) — Nepal is offering farmers cash rewards for catching desert locusts to limit the damage caused by the destructive swarms that have ravaged harvests in India and Pakistan. South Asia is experiencing its worst infestation in decades, with the plague of locusts devastating agricultural heartlands and are now entering Nepal. “Our decision is aimed at encouraging people to catch the insects instead of using pesticides which might be harmful to the environment,” […]

DA assures local poultry raisers of support; to set up facilities to reduce chicken meat imports by next year

  (Eagle News) — The Department of Agriculture bared plans to set up modern facilities for chicken meat processing that would reduce chicken meat exports by next year. The DA said this to assure the country’s poultry raisers that it is looking into their concerns amid reported oversupply of chicken meat imports. Agriculture Secretary William Dar said that there is also no move to limit local poultry production. He said that the DA is even […]

Pakistan battles locusts by turning them into chicken feed

 By Kaneez Fatima, with Ashraf Khan in Karachi LAHORE, Pakistan (AFP) –Chickens in Pakistan have been feasting on captured locusts under an initiative to combat swarms of the insects that are threatening food supplies in the impoverished country. Prime Minister Imran Khan has endorsed plans to expand a pilot project in the bread-basket province of Punjab, where villagers earned cash to gather locusts that were then dried out, shredded and added into poultry feed. Farmers […]

Dep’t of Agriculture to probe high pork prices

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxgSfro5lvE (Eagle News) — The Department of Agriculture moved to investigate reported high prices of meat products in the country. Agriculture Secretary William Dar said that he has already asked his people to look into this amid rise in meat prices, particularly of pork which he said should just be sold at the suggested retail price of P190 per kilo (for pigue/kasim or leg or ham cut) Dar said that the DA would coordinate with […]

Vietnam’s lychee crop not bearing fruit as prices slump

BAC GIANG, Vietnam (AFP) — Hundreds of lychee farmers sorted and graded huge piles of the tropical fruit at a busy wholesale market in northern Vietnam on Tuesday, but many bemoaned slumping prices as foreign traders were held up in quarantine. After mounting an aggressive response to the coronavirus pandemic, life in the country is back to relative normality and workers clustered together mask-free at dawn in Bac Giang province, their motorbikes fitted with baskets […]

Indian drones pursue locusts as swarms destroy swathes of crops

NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — Huge swarms of desert locusts are destroying crops across western and central India, prompting authorities Tuesday to step up their response to the country’s worst plague in nearly three decades. Drones, tractors and cars have been sent out to track the voracious pests and spray them with pesticides. The locusts have already destroyed nearly 50,000 hectares (125,000 acres) of cropland. “Eight to 10 swarms, each measuring around a square kilometer […]

DA to help first batch of those who availed of “Balik Probinsya” program

  (Eagle News) — The Department of Agriculture (DA) said that it will be giving agricultural aid to 112 Leyteaños who were among the first batch of beneficiaries returning to their homeland under the Balik Probinsya, Balik Pag-asa program (BP2) of the government. Agriculture Secretary William Dar said that the DA will provide farm inputs and implements to those who availed of the government’s Balik Probinsya program, if they wish to try agriculture and fishery […]

Linking farmers to consumers: Fruits, vegetables can now be ordered online as DA launches “eKadiwa” store

  (Eagle News) –Consumers can now order their needed fruits, vegetables and other agricultural produce online and direct from the farmers and agripreneurs themselves. This was made possible after the Department of Agriculture (DA) and private sector partners launched on May 4, the “eKadiwa,” an online marketing platform that directly links producers and agripreneurs to consumers. It’s an innovation introduced by the DA amid the COVID-19 pandemic that will help both farmers and other agricultural […]

DA forecast: PHL rice supply enough ’til March next year

  (Eagle News) – The Department of Agriculture said that the country’s rice “supply remains on the optimistic side” as it projects a 94-day buffer stock by the end of December 2020. Agriculture Secretary William Dar said that by the end of the year, the country will have a rice inventory of 3.27 million metric tons, as he assures the public that there is enough food amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “That means we will have […]