FAO Archives | Alberta Farmer Express

File photo of a rooster being swabbed in testing for avian influenza. (Merrimon/iStock/Getty Images)

China reports first human case of H10N3 bird flu

Strain 'not a very common virus'

By Dominique Patton, Hallie Gu, GFM Network News June 2, 2021

Beijing | Reuters — A 41-year-old man in China’s eastern province of Jiangsu has been confirmed as the first human case of infection with a rare strain of bird flu known as H10N3, Beijing’s National Health Commission (NHC) said on Tuesday. Many different strains of bird flu are present in China and some sporadically infect […] Read more

Beth Bechdol, deputy director-general for the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), speaks on a video conference call marking World Pulses Day. (Photo courtesy FAO via Flickr, copyright FAO)

Crops, Pulses

Pulse weekly outlook: World Pulses Day celebrated

By MarketsFarm Team, GFM Network News February 17, 2021

MarketsFarm — The United Nations celebrated the annual World Pulses Day on Feb. 10, highlighting the contribution of pulse crops to world agriculture and nutrition. “Pulses are more than just nutritious seeds – they also contribute to achieving the goals of the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development,” the UN said in a release. “They play […] Read more

Farmer Anil Salunkhe feeds strawberries to a cow during a 21-day nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the Satara district in India’s Maharashtra state on April 1, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Rajendra Jadhav)

Crops, Markets, Reuters

How COVID-19 is upending global food supply chains

Cows fed strawberries in India, watermelons rot in U.S., okra not reaching Canada

By Nigel Hunt, Naveen Thukral, Rajendra Jadhav, GFM Network News April 4, 2020

Satara/Singapore/London | Reuters — In the fertile Satara district in western India, farmers are putting their cattle on an unorthodox diet: Some feed iceberg lettuce to buffalo. Others feed strawberries to cows. It’s not a treat. They can either feed their crops to animals or let them spoil. And other farmers are doing just that […] Read more

Reginald Conyers, a traveling busker, plays the trumpet outside a Safeway while people observing social distancing wait in line to enter the store in Oakland on March 20, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Kate Munsch)

Crops, Markets, Reuters

Panic buying, lockdowns may drive world food inflation

World has ample grain and oilseed supplies, FAO and analysts say

By Naveen Thukral, GFM Network News March 23, 2020

Singapore | Reuters — Lockdowns and panic food buying due to the coronavirus pandemic could ignite world food inflation even though there are ample supplies of staple grains and oilseeds in key exporting nations, a senior economist at FAO and agricultural analysts said. The world’s richest nations poured unprecedented aid into the global economy as […] Read more

The launch event for the FAO/OECD Agricultural Outlook 2019-2028 on July 8, 2019 at FAO headquarters in Rome. (Photo (c) FAO/Giuseppe Carotenuto)
Photo credit must be given: ©FAO/Giuseppe Carotenuto. Editorial use only. Copyright ©FAO.

General, Markets, Reuters

FAO, OECD see swine fever in China among risks to food markets

By Reuters July 8, 2019

Paris | Reuters — The spread of a deadly pig disease in China that has disrupted the world’s biggest pork market is one of the major risks to a well-supplied global agricultural sector, the FAO and OECD said on Monday. African swine fever was highlighted in the annual agricultural outlook for 2019-2028 from the Food […] Read more

(Giuseppe Carotenuto photo courtesy FAO)

Crops, Weather

Canada’s ag output seen likely rising under climate change

By MarketsFarm Team September 18, 2018

CNS Canada — A new United Nations report suggests just how climate change will reshape agriculture by 2050 — and that Canada’s production capacity stands to benefit. International trade will play an ever-larger role in helping to feed people in food-deficient regions, as warmer temperatures and less precipitation will damage yields in many tropical areas, […] Read more

Corn, Crops, Soybeans, Spring Wheat

AMIS adjusts world grain production outlooks

By MarketsFarm Team July 7, 2018

CNS Canada –– Global supply-demand outlooks, released by the market monitoring agency of an alliance of 11 international organizations, point to lower corn production for 2018-19. The Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) Market Monitor report for July said the record corn harvest in 2017-18 will slip by more than four per cent in 2018-19. That’s […] Read more

Crops, Reuters

Syrian agriculture faces US$16 billion bill from conflict

By Umberto Bacchi April 3, 2017

Rome | Thomson Reuters Foundation — Syria’s six-year conflict has caused at least US$16 billion in damage to agriculture — about a third of the country’s GDP — a U.N. agency said on Monday, calling for more funds to salvage local food production as millions go hungry. Fighting has led to extensive crop and livestock […] Read more

Crops, Pulses, Reuters, Weather

Lentils, chickpeas can help reverse soil erosion trend, U.N. says

By Alex Whiting December 5, 2016

Rome | Thomson Reuters Foundation — Planting more lentils, chickpeas and other pulses will improve the health of the world’s soils that have reached critical levels, threatening to worsen hunger and poverty levels, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Monday. About a third of the world’s soils are degraded because of soil […] Read more

Temple ruins at Palmyra in central Syria. (CIA.gov)

Cereals, Crops, Reuters

Food production in Syria reported at all-time low

By Stephanie Nebehay November 15, 2016

Geneva | Reuters — Food production has dropped to an all-time low in Syria where millions of hungry civilians are struggling through their sixth winter in a war zone, United Nations agencies said Tuesday. Many farmers have had to abandon their land, unable to afford the soaring cost of seeds, fertilizers and tractor fuel, the […] Read more

Baltic Dry Index hits 12-year high

Prairie cash wheat: Prices rise as worldwide stocks fall

Grain exports running well behind year-ago pace

GFM Network News