The forum that drew participants from Tanzania, Sudan, DRC, Uganda, Kenya, Madagascar, Ethiopia, Burundi, Eritrea and hosts Rwanda, aims at sharing experiences and good practices to support small scale farmers through partnerships.

IAR4D is a mechanism approved by agriculture ministers from various African countries, who recently met in Accra, Ghana, as an effective strategy in the transformation and development of agriculture.

The approach aims at bringing all stakeholders in the sector under one umbrella to ensure effectiveness so as to make adequate impact to people’s lives.

They include researchers, extension providers, development agents, the private sector, policy makers, donors, farmers and consumers, among others.

“Since the system brings together every key player, it makes sure farmers benefit from activities of these parties, thereby improving output that also increases earnings,” said Berhane Okubay who is representing Eritrea.

The Deputy DG of Rwanda Agricultural Board in charge of Research, Dr. Daphrose Gahakwa, highlighted the steps the government has taken to insure effectiveness in the chain of agriculture transformation and promotion.

“Public institutions have been merged, including those in charge research, extension and livestock, to come up with RAB,” Gahakwa said.

She explained that currently, the teaming-up has greatly improved performance since responsibility is collectively owned.

The Director for Agricultural Research in Africa, Prof Wale Adekunle, told The New Times that the system would address the gaps in agricultural development.

He explained that the new structure enables current technological advancement and innovations to reach farmers.

Source:  newtimes.co.rw

Combined global inventories of wheat,corn and rice will drop 2.5 percent to a four-year low as farmers fail to keep pace with demand, U.S. Department of Agriculture data shows.

“The food complex is relatively recession-resistant,” said Sunny Verghese, chief executive officer of Olam, one of the world’s three biggest rice suppliers. “Because of the growing imbalance in the demand and supply of food, and because the stocks-to-consumption ratios are low, if there’s any weather- related disruption, it can ratchet up prices.”

Rice, the staple for half the world, jumped 53 percent in the past year in Chicago, while corn surged 73 percent and wheat advanced 12 percent, as flooding, hot temperatures and dry weather in the U.S. and parts of Europe hurt crops. Rising grain prices helped send the United Nations Food Price Index up 10 times in the 12 months to June and reached a record in February.

Global corn stockpiles were forecast by the USDA to plunge in the 2011-2012 season to 114.5 million metric tons. That would be the lowest level in five years as hot weather in the U.S., the world’s largest grower and exporter, curbs yields and demand climbs for the grain used in livestock feeds and ethanol production.

Corn Deficit

Supply may be even smaller than the USDA estimated as the harvest in the U.S. shrinks faster than forecast by the government, Rabobank International analysts led by Luke Chandler wrote in a report Aug. 26.

The corn market may have an 18.7 million-ton deficit in the 2011-2012 season, more than three times the 6 million ton forecast by the USDA, according to the Rabobank analysts, who correctly predicted that yield concerns in the U.S. could push soybean prices above $14 a bushel.

“We are more friendly to corn than wheat because of weather-related issues in the U.S.,” Verghese said in an interview on Bloomberg Television with Susan Li today. “This could have a fairly significant impact and the continuing growth of demand from ethanol and the biofuel complex add” to supply pressures, he said.

The U.S. corn-crop condition deteriorated in the past week after hot weather hurt crops. About 54 percent of the crop was in good to excellent conditions as of Aug. 28, down from 57 percent a week earlier and 70 percent a year earlier, the USDA said in a report yesterday.

Iowa, Illinois

Iowa and Illinois, the biggest U.S. corn- and soybean- growing states, had their hottest July since 1955, according to state climatology departments. Parts of Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota and Indiana received a quarter of normal rainfall this month, according to the National Weather Service.

Rice prices will remain firm as the government of Thailand, the world’s largest shipper, buys the grain at above market prices, locking up some of the nation’s exportable surplus in state warehouses, Verghese said.

“Thailand is an important exporter,” Verghese said. “The Thai government policies will have some impact on prices. We don’t expect it to explode.”

The export price of 100 percent grade-B Thai rice, the regional benchmark, may rally to $750 per ton by Dec. 31, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of seven exporters, traders and millers conducted last week. That forecast is $50 higher than the median estimate in a separate Bloomberg survey undertaken in the first half of this month.

The grain surged to a record $1,038 a ton on May 21, 2008, a month after the Chicago rice futures advanced to an all-time high, as exporters including India restricted shipments.

Thailand’s buying policy will encourage farmers to boost rice planting, adding to global output and forcing Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to sell the excess supply after six months, Verghese said.

Source: Bloomberg.com

To contact the reporter on this story: Luzi Ann Javier in Singapore at ljavier@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Richard Dobson at rdobson4@bloomberg.net

A variant strain of the H5N1 avian influenza virus, which can apparently bypass the defenses of current vaccines with unpredictable risks to humans, has appeared in Vietnam and China, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) stated.

Circulation of the virus in Vietnam threatens Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Japan and the Korean peninsula, the FAO said.

The most recent death caused by avian flu occurred this month in Cambodia, where eight people have died after becoming infected this year, the organization added.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says the virus has infected 565 people since it emerged in 2003, causing 331 deaths.

Avian flu has also directly killed or required the culling of over 400 million poultry and caused economic losses estimated at $20 billion before being eliminated from most of the 63 countries infected at its 2006 peak.

To read the entire article, visit: cnn.com | By Greg Hughes

A NEW Zealand apple grower has been caught trying to send banned waste from apple trees to Australia days after the trans-Tasman market reopened.

The load was stopped by Biosecurity Australia on a final inspection in New Zealand before being airfreighted to Australia.

The incident has infuriated Australian apple growers, who have long argued that the disease risks of importing NZ apples are too great.

Apple and Pear Growers Association of SA president Mike Nicol said it shows what growers have said all along and that Biosecurity Australia will have to be vigilant.

“If that has happened in the first few days after the Australian apple market opened up, it shows that what we are worried about is a fact,” Mr Nicol said.

“If New Zealand is going to keep exporting, can we rely on Biosecurity inspectors to be vigilant when the loads start increasing substantially in the longer term?”

State Agriculture Minister Michael O’Brien said the discovery emphasised the need for precautions as debate raged over the NZ imports.

“I welcome the vigilance of Australian quarantine officers, but this discovery underscores the need for South Australia to take additional measures to protect our orchards.”

The Advertiser revealed last week that quarantine zones will be introduced to protect apple growers in the Adelaide Hills, Riverland and South-East, with the move backed by Cabinet this week.

Apple and Pear Australia Ltd chairman John Lawrenson said it was extremely disturbing that the apple tree debris and a quarantinable pest had been found within days of the start of apple imports from New Zealand.

Mr Lawrenson warned that there was a very real risk that Australia could have fireblight, European canker and leaf-curling midge in the first full year of New Zealand apple imports.

“We also said that trash is difficult to exclude from cartons and it is well known that trash is a carrier of the fireblight bacteria,” he said.

Apple and Pear Growers Association of SA chief executive Greg Cramond said the industry had always been concerned that it was impossible to keep trash out of consignments.

“This . . . is the easiest way for fireblight to get into Australia,” he said.

Source: AdelaideNow.com

The plan expects to assist 12,000 families that are small producers of grains like corn, beans, sorghum and rice in Central America, the majority of these will be in Panama and Belize.

The agency estimates that in the future, about two million rural households in Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Belize could benefit from this program.

“They represent 29% of the population of the region, and thanks to the food that they produce are, without a doubt, one of the most important responses to food crises in the region,” said Jose Graziano da Silva, FAO Regional Representative.

The project has formed 132 groups of producers, each of whom produce good quality seeds of the basic grains.  Within the group, there are 24 members that are in the process of consolidating  into seed companies, which will directly benefit 12,000 farm families.

One focus will be strengthening the relationship between state oversight agencies and small seed producers, to streamline oversight mechanisms, quality control and certification to facilitate the work of small producers in the market.

It also seeks to improve and strengthen the role of state agencies, through the submission of proposals for sustainable development of the seed stock  and provide advice to the ministries of agriculture of the participating countries.

By the end of  2011, the goal is to produce 3,272 tons of seed suitable for small producers.

source: americaeconomia.com

This technology, which began to be explored in the 1990s, was implemented and perfected by Fresherized Foods (FF), a Texas company, but since the summer of this year it is a technology now being employed by the Mexican Group, KUO.

This was the essence of the business transaction: the domain of High Pressure Processing (HPP), a non-thermal pasteurization treatment used to process products such as fruits, vegetables and juices, which is the strong point of FF.

Utilizing this process, the food industry has has manufactured a wide variety of salsas and guacamole, which are widely appreciated by international consumers, with many thanks to its spicy flavor and nutrition (high in vitamin A and Omegas, for example).

Hence Group KUO, through its sister company MegaMex Foods, bought Fresherized Foods, a leading producer of guacamole in the U.S.. It should be remembered that KUO (formerly identified as Grupo Desc) owns the technology behind its processes and that its products are exported to over 70 countries on all continents.

Fresherized Foods has annual sales of 140 million dollars (mdd), through brandnames Wholly Guacamole Wholly Wholly Salsa and Cheese. Another brand that is associated with KUO is Fort Herdez.

KUO Group is an industrial leader in Mexico, with annual sales of about 1,800 million dollars, with exports to over 70 countries. Its current portfolio of business includes: Chipboard, Dynasol (rubber solution), Elastomers, Aerospace KUO, KUO Bioenergy, Macro-M, Plastics, Pork and Power Systems.

source: cnnexpansion.com

Peruvian Mandarins represented five percent of Peruvian exports of fruits which totaled 432.9 million dollars.