He saved a portion of that and used it to sow 3 acres (1.2 hectares) of paddy. He placed his bet on the high-yielding pearl variety of aromatic Basmati rice. A good sale would have given him an earning of nearly 1 million rupees per acre ($11,400 per 0.4 hectares). But now, Singh's pearl paddy grains lie submerged in floodwater, buried under layers of soil and sediment.
Caleb Ragland, a Kentucky farmer and president of the American Soybean Association, is warning of an agricultural crisis as China has placed zero soybean orders for the upcoming harvest. It's a departure from typical patterns, where 25% of the U.S. crop goes to China. With prices 40% below three-year highs and production costs rising, hundreds of thousands of farmers face losses unless there's a trade resolution between the two countries.
The European Commission took the first step on Wednesday to ratify a long-awaited free-trade package with Latin American countries: an agreement with Mexico, and, crucially, one with members of the Mercosur trading bloc. The EU spent over 25 years negotiating the deal with Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay, the four founding members of the Southern Common Market, or Mercosur. Bolivia, which joined the group only last year, and Venezuela, whose membership has been suspended, are not included in the deal.
President Daniel Chapo launches $40m fund for small businesses at 60th annual Maputo International Trade Fair. Maputo, Mozambique Down the main aisle of a bustling conference pavilion in Mozambique's capital, Maputo, Lucia Matimele stands surrounded by lush green leaves, peppers on the stalk, and bunches of ripe bananas. We have land, we have water, we have farmers! she enthuses. What we need is investment.
The U.S. plans to build a $750 million factory to breed billions of sterile flies to combat the New World screwworm flies that threaten the cattle industry.
Ewelina Bialoszewska embeds seeds into her homemade photo book, known as the Growing Album, enabling viewers to plant and grow the album after use.
"Basically, the land is sinking and so are the property values," Mehdi Nemati, a UCR assistant professor of environmental economics and policy who led the study, said in a press release.