FARM NEWS - AFRICA DAILY

Costa Rica promises to compensate sickened banana workers

Oct 08, 2014 (AFP)

Costa Rica has agreed to pay the medical bills and other compensation for some 12,000 banana workers and their relatives suffering lingering effects of exposure...

NMSU researchers address water sustainability for viable farming

Oct 08, 2014 (SPX)

With a persistent drought, New Mexico is in need of effective water conservation methods that allow farming and ranching to be viable. New Mexico State Universi...

China food giant buys into Italian olive oil maker

Oct 08, 2014 (AFP)

China's state-owned Bright Food said it has agreed to buy a majority stake in Italian olive oil producer Salov as it seeks more targets overseas. The deal is th...

Study: Genetics drive coffee habits

Oct 07, 2014 (UPI)

Caffeine fiends are off the hook. Their espresso dependency isn't entirely voluntary, they were just born that way. And those who get the jitters after half a c...

Natural gene selection can produce orange corn rich in provitamin A for Africa, U.S.

Oct 07, 2014 (SPX)

Purdue researchers have identified a set of genes that can be used to naturally boost the provitamin A content of corn kernels, a finding that could help combat...

The Shebaa Farms, a tug-of-war Mideast conflict zone

Oct 07, 2014 (AFP)

The Shebaa Farms, where the Lebanese militia Hezbollah claimed a Tuesday attack on Israeli forces that slightly wounded two soldiers, is a mountainous sliver of...

Ivory Coast buoyed by record agricultural harvest

Oct 05, 2014 (AFP)

Good news is pouring in from plantations in Ivory Coast, the west African country is racking up record harvests for cocoa and cashew nuts of which it is a top g...

No sign of health or nutrition problems from GMO livestock feed

Oct 02, 2014 (SPX)

A new scientific review from the University of California, Davis, reports that the performance and health of food-producing animals consuming genetically engine...

China's Ningxia matures as a quality wine producer

Sep 28, 2014 (AFP)

Just a few years ago barely anyone had heard of wines from Ningxia in China, but today the region is producing some of the country's best vintages and it doesn'...

Sri Lanka seeks to trademark cinnamon spice success

Sep 28, 2014 (AFP)

Ten years after the Asian tsunami devastated Sarath Kumara's cinnamon plantation in Sri Lanka, forcing him to start over with nothing, the farmer faces a new th...

Ex-rubber tapper Silva out to land Brazil presidency

Sep 28, 2014 (AFP)

Brazilian presidential candidate Marina Silva only learned to read at 16 and endured a tough childhood as a rubber tapper in the Amazon before considering wheth...

Biochar alters water flow to improve sand and clay

Sep 26, 2014 (SPX)

As more gardeners and farmers add ground charcoal, or biochar, to soil to both boost crop yields and counter global climate change, a new study by researchers a...

'Crazy' climate forces Colombian farmers to adapt

Sep 26, 2014 (AFP)

Once upon a time, farming was a blissfully low-tech business on Colombia's northern plains. The lush tropical climate allowed rice farmers to harvest two or thr...

Can genetic engineering help food crops better tolerate drought?

Sep 26, 2014 (SPX)

The staggering growth rate of the global population demands innovative and sustainable solutions to increase food production by as much as 70-100% in the next f...

Wasp 'SWAT team' to the rescue of Indonesian cassava crop

Sep 24, 2014 (AFP)

An "eco-friendly SWAT team" of 2,000 tiny wasps was released in Indonesia Wednesday to battle bugs threatening to devour cassava crops, a major staple and sourc...

Guilt-free doughnuts: UN summit hails palm oil pledges

Sep 23, 2014 (AFP)

Dunkin' Donuts and Krispy Kreme joined a raft of international food companies pledging Tuesday at a UN Summit to stop using palm oil, considered a major contrib...

More land, fewer harvests

Sep 23, 2014 (SPX)

According to a simulation of the impact of climate change on agricultural production over the course of the 21st century, carried out by researchers led by Prof...

The future of global agriculture may include new land, fewer harvests

Sep 23, 2014 (SPX)

Climate change may expand suitable cropland, particularly in the Northern high latitudes, but tropical regions may becoming decreasingly suitable, according to ...

OSI laying off hundreds from troubled China food plant

Sep 22, 2014 (AFP)

US food supplier OSI Group said Monday it had begun laying off more than 300 workers at a Shanghai plant shut down by Chinese authorities over expired meat sold...

Moroccan city outlaws olive trees

Sep 18, 2014 (AFP)

A Moroccan city has banned olive trees because of pollen-linked allergies and set an end-of-the-year deadline for residents to remove them, media reports said T...