He has now harvested crops without fail for the past 10 years. In the past, crops have failed on his land three years out of every four and his 3000-strong local rural community, which suffers from a food deficit, has relied on Government assistance. While his Western counterparts take advantage of GPS-guided fertilising and crop-planning software, he is using technology from a local weather station to keep his farm producing. Eleven years ago, Mr Ng'ang'a, who has a degree in agriculture,...

China's government has provided farmers with a total 8.3 billion yuan in subsidies for spring ploughing, with another 570 million yuan to be distributed. The payout has been delivered nationwide to rural households to subsidize expenditure on farm machinery, improved varieties of grain crops and training on farming and fertilizing techniques. Since China started to scrap agriculture taxes three years ago, farmers have stepped up land cultivation, which in turn lifted demand and prices for...

farm exports to Korea will become duty-free immediately, and market access will be expanded for beef, pork and poultry, among other commodities. Market access for beef and pork will be improved through duty phase-outs, which will ultimately lead to unlimited duty-free access by 2014 for most significant pork products and in 15 years for beef. Immediate duty-free access within tariff-rate quotas is provided for skim and whole milk powder, whey for food use, cheese, dextrins and modified...

The revenue decrease was largely attributable to lower domestic sales volumes, offset by increased revenues from the International division, primarily in Brazil, which continues to benefit from the introduction of transgenic cotton varieties and higher acreage, as it did in the first quarter. The revenue decrease was largely attributable to lower domestic sales volumes, offset by increased revenues from the International division, primarily in Brazil, which continues to benefit from the...

Williamson County farmers were expecting to produce their biggest corn yield by acreage in county history this year, but the recent harsh weather has crops fighting to survive. In a place where corn production has been low for the past 15 years because of dry spells, you'd think the recent rain would be a good thing. The cost of producing cotton is on the rise, so many Central Texas farmers are banking on corn. Department of Agriculture reports corn production rose 15 percent nationwide in...

D&PL cotton varieties demonstrated superior yield performance over the competition in the High Plains last year in both university and D&PL testing, and producers north and south are reporting top-end yields and premium fiber quality with varieties such as DP 143 B2RF, DP 117 B2RF and DP 164 B2RF. These varieties are expected to enhance the already strong lineup of high-yielding D&PL products for America's largest cotton-production region. D&PL cotton varieties demonstrated superior yield...

The United States' 25,000 cotton farmers receive subsidies totaling some $4 billion, reportedly allowing them to undercut their developing competitors. The market is said to be reeling because of what locals call "the monster with three heads," namely, the dollar, low world prices and U. Dropping cotton prices shake Africa OUAGADOUGOU, April 9 (UPI) -- Four years of falling prices on the world market have West Africa's all-important cotton industry on the brink of collapse. World cotton...

Bt cotton accounted for over 60 per cent of acreage last season. And it's clear that the seed companies might market much less of hybrid varieties in the coming season, if they do that at all. As acreage under it rises, so do the risks taken by the farmer. For another, these regions saw their greatest spurt in farm suicides after 2003 where the last available NCRB data stops. The State government's own report informs us that in preceding seasons too, "In rain-fed conditions, Bt cotton has...

The federal agency also generally doesn't track where such crops are grown, only where farmers conduct initial tests of such crops in their fields. Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, has introduced a bill, AB 541, that would require farmers to notify local county agricultural commissioners within 30 days of planting or testing genetically altered crops. Only about 600,000 of those acres mostly devoted to corn, cotton and alfalfa are in California, according to state farm bureau estimates.