The governorate of North Sharqiyah has registered uptick agricultural production growth beginning 2021, boosting food security in Oman. Located in central-eastern Oman, the governorate saw its horticultural and fruit output in the three years ending mid-2024 reach 250,000 tonnes. While announcing these results, Dr. Abdul Aziz bin Ali al Mashaikhi, Director General of North Sharqiyah’s Agriculture and Water Resources also outlined notable...

Global sugar prices sunk on July 23, 2024 in the futures markets as production hubs Brazil and India reported surplus. On the 23rd,  sugar #11 or unrefined sugar for October delivery lost by –0.77% in New York, according to Barchart. This was even as refined white sugar #1 in London shed 1.39%. A spot check on Market Insider on July 24, 2024...

Following his surprise stepping down as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, President Joe Biden Ag legacies are worth appraisal. In brief, most of his successes revolve around climate, rural funding and partially around the Farm Bill. Firstly, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on July 21, 2024 praised his close ally as among “the most consequential American presidents.”  Vilsack also summarized some...

At 12.01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on July 24, 2024, the Florida mini-season began with lobster harvesters heeding regulations. The two-day recreational harvest follows the bonus harvest day that residents enjoyed on July 14 courtesy of governor Ron DeSantis. This time round, recreational fishermen will follow extra rules that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) issued on July 23....

With a 60% growth in half-year exports for 2024, the Cambodia agriculture sector has helped boost the country’s GDP. Government experts now predict that the growth of the national economy in 2024 will stabilize at 6%. Then it will spike to 6.3% between 2025 and 2027, as production, industry and trade expand. Driving this expansion are four sectors, namely manufacturing, tourism, service...

Biome Makers, a global agritech firm, has launched a new digital platform known as BeCrop®Farm that focuses on soil health and data-based crop monitoring. The platform could therefore help stem rapid soil degradation worldwide and boost production of over 200 crops. According to the United Nations, one-third of the world’s soil has undergone degradation, despite soil supporting 95% of global...

Reports by Iraq’s Ministry of Trade on July 21, 2024 indicate that domestic Iraqi wheat purchases are verging on 6.3 million tonnes, the highest ever. By July 6, the government had already bought 5.9 million tonnes locally since April, per a MENA FM story that quotes Reuters. This means only 400,000 tonnes more remain to realize the state’s tonnage of exactly 6.305 million tonnes...

Reports show that the IT outage of July 19, 2024 on select computer systems grounded key global supply systems. From blue screens in teller machines to cargo delay and TV anchors reading news from printouts, the Friday outage brought mayhem. The problem emanated from a CloudStrike update that stalled 8.5 million computers or 1% of worldwide devices running Windows. CloudStrike, a cybersecurity firm,...

The State of Maryland is encouraging people to consume invasive blue catfish and other species preying on a shrinking striped bass population. “If you can’t beat ‘em, eat ‘em,” Branson Williams, Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR)’ invasive fishes program manager said. Williams’ task is to eradicate blue catfish, flathead catfish and the Northern snakehead, three species multiplying in interior waters....

The Namibia Agronomic Board (NAB) is championing an international fruit partnership with the European Union (EU), to make Namibia’s fruit sector self-reliant. Aiming to cut fruit imports from 96% to 50%, the EU-Namibia Economic Partnership Agreement (EU-EPA) is currently funding and training growers. According to NAB’s spokesperson Emily Abraham in a July 18 report on The Namibian, the initiative has already utilized N$100,000...