The Indian government is looking at ways to give the private sector greater involvement as its bureaucracy struggles to manage the country’s sizeable grain stocks, according to KV Thomas, the food minister.
With over 30 years in the food industry, with a third of it spent providing and promoting food safety certification with Cert ID Europe, Richard Werran knows a fair bit about genetically modified crops in sustainable agriculture.
Mintel has reported that India leads the way in the Asia-Pacific packaged rice market, with the country’s development in new products more than doubling over the last two years.
The Philippines’ Department of Agriculture has “clarified” the blue-skies announcement by its secretary, Proceso Alcala, in which when he said the country would be in a position to stop importing rice next year.
After days of frenzied negotiations and brinksmanship, delays and declarations, the Indian cabinet has finally approved an ambitious plan to subsidise food for two-thirds of its population, according to early BBC reports.
The Philippines’ embattled agriculture secretary is clearly clairvoyant, otherwise he would never have come out with such a grand prediction as he did last week—that his government plans to shelve rice imports in 2014.
As concerns grow for the security of food supplies for its billion-plus population, China—the sixth biggest producer of genetically modified crops—has resolved to continue importing GM soybeans to satisfy domestic demand.
There’s always a weakness somewhere, and for the Indian government this is often the price of onions. And what must really be worrying the ruling politicians in New Delhi, as the finance minister delivers his Union Budget, is how the price of onions has...
New Zealand’s commercial fruit and vegetable growers’ association has branded as ridiculous the latest claims by the Australian vegetable industry group, Ausveg, that Kiwi food manufacturers are bombarding their country with sub-standard frozen vegetables.
The fraught issue of government regulation on the Indian sugar industry might be on its way to a solution if a report in the Wall Street Journal is to be believed.
Heatwave conditions from early January and below average rainfall across Australia’s major agricultural regions have resulted in a less than favourable summer cropping season, according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and...
A global research project led by a Hyderabad institute claims to have sequenced 90 genomes of the chickpea, paving the way for improved grain yields, greater drought tolerance and enhanced genetic diversity.
Food policymakers in China have had a busy few days with party leadership outlining the need for agricultural modernisation, the government demanding improvements in logistics and the food watchdog offering rewards for whistleblowers.
India’s newfound position as the world’s leading rice exporter has not escaped the attention of China, which may look to its western neighbour for increasingly greater rice supplies over the coming years.
Two of India's biggest food companies are preparing to extend their battle into the lucrative, albeit relatively new, breakfast oats category this year.
A new study by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (Abares) has identified financial and environmental concerns to be the key drivers influencing the adoption of sustainable farming practices in Australia.
The Australian Egg Corporation (AECL) has advised Australia’s trademark administrators that it will withdraw its current application for a certification trade mark covering an enhanced quality assurance programme for the Australian egg industry.
Australia’s director of animal and plant quarantine is expected to approve the import of fresh decrowned pineapple fruit from Malaysia. The decision based on consideration of a final risk analysis report for the import of the fruit from Malaysia.
After a decade of rising profits on the back of Chinese demand for coal and iron ore, Japan's two biggest biggest trading companies are shifting focus to food as bulk commodity prices and demand continue to wane.
New varieties of the Chinese red bayberry fruit are nearing production after successful trials were held by growers, while a deal to market the produce is in the offing.
“Human guinea pigs”, “gambling with health” and “shadowy research project”—the terms came thick and fast in Greenpeace’s revelation about Golden Rice earlier this year.
Vietnam is expected to export 7.7m tonnes of rice in 2012, setting a 20-year record high due to increased export orders in the last months in 2012, according to the Vietnam Food Association (VFA).
Yakult Honsha’s love affair with Yonghe is set to continue with the announcement of a second plant to be built in the economic zone in Guangzhou Province, China. The factory, which will produce the Yakult fermented milk drink, is slated to open in spring...
The most commonly used cages for housing layer hens will be phased out in New Zealand by 2022 under a new code of welfare issued by the minister for primary industries, David Carter.
Evidence from a significant study now suggests that watermelon is a vital species for genetic research on account of its small genome size, and its diverse genetic mutants and variants. The findings also pave the way for research into genetic improvement...
Earlier this month a small story made its way into the Times of India—the country’s biggest-selling newspaper—to announce the opening of a shop that sells only organic products. For the rest of the world, this might be humdrum, but for India the event...
Now some time has passed since the Rangarajan Committee revealed its recommendations to remove restrictions on the sugar sector, industry groups have begun to put pressure on the government to accept or reject its findings.
A French politician’s calls for a “Nutella tax” have been met with anger in Malaysia. Central to the terms of the proposal, which will be voted on in Paris this week, lies a 300% duty increase on palm oil imports to the country.
A combination of factors is expected to drive demand growth in the vegetable oils market over the next few years, with demand from the food sector being led by a number of emerging economies, most prominently in the Asia-Pacific region.
A new quality standard that promises to bring greater consistency to the way egg producers meet farm standards has created a row between the egg industry and Australia’s business watchdog.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the country’s business and consumer watchdog, has proposed a move to allow selected potato growers associations to collectively bargain with potato buyers.
Hundreds of farmers have turned out outside a regional research station in northern India as part of a peaceful protest against nearby open-air field trials of GM corn.
A PhD student at New Zealand’s Lincoln University has found that nearly half of mono-floral honey bought from supermarkets in the country were not true to their labels.
Government grain officials across China have joined a movement to “experience 24 hours of hunger” as part of a wider campaign to promote public awareness of food security and to curb grain waste.
China’s appetite for vegetable oils has been one of the key factors supporting markets for the commodity over recent years, a new report by Rabobank has found.
PepsiCo’s investment to localize its Quaker brand in China with traditional herbal medicine fortification and texture adaptations has enabled it to thrive, an analyst says.
According to the latest planting progress report from the Indian Ministry of Agriculture, this year’s acreage of monsoon oilseed crops is down significantly over last year, even though soybean planting reached a record high amid fear of drought.
The US Grains Council (USGC) has projected another bumper crop of Chinese corn, and voiced its relief that China can step up to the plate as the US faces a tough harvest.
In another agricultural research collaboration between New Zealand and China, scientists have begun a joint study into how to improve seeds so that farmers can produce more and bigger grains.
A long-term research study published this week has confirmed that non-traditional methods of cooking are significantly contributing to the rise in diabetes among Indians.
The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has dismissed a complaint that the website for Unilever-owned Walls Ice Cream gave a misleading nutritional “impression” of its ice cream products.
On a visit to Cambodia, the UAE minister for foreign trade revealed that her government was considering pumping money into halal food production and rice milling in the Southeast Asian country.
Agribusiness companies from the Philippines, Myanmar and Thailand have formed a consortium to develop a Southeast Asian rice supply chain using the proprietary hybrid and premium rice technology.
The author of a report suggesting that China’s corn imports are in line to explode by 2017, today cautioned that the government will have to walk a tightrope in balancing pork prices with domestic corn productivity.
