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February 11, 2011
· China to spend $1 billion to battle drought
· EU urged to open market to GM foods
· California farmer found guilty of fraud
· Russia crop woes help feed Oregon farmers
· Rebel gardeners wage veggie war on big city
China
The worst drought in six decades threatens to ruin
To combat it,
Some 2.57 million people and 2.79 million livestock are suffering from drinking water shortages, Xinhua said.
The main affected provinces include
The United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) issued an alert Tuesday, warning of severe wheat shortages, saying "the ongoing drought is potentially a serious problem."
According to the FAO the drought is now affecting an area of
around 5.16 million hectares, representing two-thirds of
Meanwhile the country's capital
EU urged to open market to GM foods
(AFP
via Yahoo! News)
"When Europeans come to the
"Why should we have different standards in
"We have very strict safety standards -- as do you --
and I think that alone is good reason to make sure that our products are able
to be sold in
"I will be raising that issue today -- it is important to address, and to continue to press the commission to go the right way.
"Decisions on GM foods need to be science-based," she stressed.
Europe has got itself into a bind on GM, with two crops currently greenlighted for production -- a maize strain for animal feed and a potato for paper-making -- but 15 outstanding requests for authorisation caught up in deadlock over what grounds can be used legally to block cultivation.
The EU stands accused of "flouting" WTO rules, with some member states and regions having banned crop production unilaterally, or declared themselves GM-free, and products containing traces also blocked at ports.
Only on Wednesday, disagreement on a committee of experts from the 27 EU states meant authorisation was denied for three new strains of GM maize and one of GM cotton to be grown by Syngenta and US giant Dow AgroSciences, although the commission will try again on March 1.
Intra-EU divisions also downed a separate commission
proposal to lift import restrictions on animal foodstuffs containing traces of
GM crops, up to a certain threshold, due to opposition from
Sapiro, though, has no such qualms, adding of the queue seeking authorisation: "Hopefully these products can be approved, even though we recognise concerns among some consumers.
"Hopefully, it will come out the right way... We hope it's not insoluble."
The commission wants a compromise that would allow states to block crop production on their territory, while allowing the free movement of GM goods, food and feed, on their territories.
Commission documentation lists reasons that may be given by a state, under the EU treaty and based on existing case-law, "to restrict or prohibit GMO cultivation in all or part of its territory."
These include: public morals (religious, philosophical and ethical concerns); public order; preservation of organic and conventional farming systems; social policy objectives, eg for mountain regions; preservation of traditional farming methods or cultural heritage; and maintenance of certain habitats and ecosystems.
In each case, "the measure should also be justified, proportionate and non discriminatory," it spells out.
The best-known GM producer, another US giant Monsanto, is at the forefront of legal moves to open up the European single market, home to half a billion people and 20 million companies.
Environmental campaigners Friends of the Earth have commissioned legal advice which argues that dropping a "zero tolerance" policy on even the smallest traces "to appease the industry lobby" will lead to a contaminated food chain and "would not be legal."
A petition signed by a million EU citizens seeking a moratorium on all GM crop production is currently gathering dust in a commission drawer.
California
(Recordnet.com) SACRAMENTO - A federal jury convicted Stockton-area farmer Gregory P. Torlai Jr. of deceiving the government by filing fraudulent insurance claims to try to collect $400,000 from a taxpayer-backed insurance program.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Federal Crop Insurance Corp. is designed to help farmers survive when nature destroys crops.
Torlai, 49, was found guilty
Thursday in
"We hope this verdict sends a message that the program is intended to support hardworking farmers who suffer from the vicissitudes of nature, and it's not a treasure chest open to fraudsters," said U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner.
The jury found that Torlai had
lied about how many seeds he'd bought and the number of acres of wheat,
safflower and other crops he'd planted in three counties -
Insurance adjusters and federal inspectors, who looked into Torlai's benefit claims, described fields in
Neither Torlai nor his defense attorney, Donald Heller, could be reached for comment.
Torlai was released on his own recognizance until his May 3 sentencing hearing. He faces up to 30 years in prison and a possible $1 million fine.
Department of Agriculture officials say most
Prosecutors said Torlai filed phony crop information and lied about how many acres of wheat he planted. To get the payout, prosecutors alleged, Torlai submitted dummied-up store receipts for seeds he'd never bought and filed insurance claims for land he'd never owned.
In court documents, defense attorney Donald Heller argued that Torlai didn't know he was making false statements in his insurance claims: He was simply following the instructions given to him by an independent insurance adjuster.
Last month, as the trial progressed, prosecutors showed
snapshots of Torlai's farm in
Torlai, a slender man with weathered skin, sat stone-faced, gripping his brass rodeo belt buckle, one leg bouncing nervously under the defense table.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Anderson asked Fricke what she saw in the photographs.
"Native grasses, sage brush and rocks," Fricke said. "Pits. Garbage put into those big pits. Normally, in wheat fields, you don't see garbage pits."
Russia
crop woes help feed Oregon
(gazettetimes.com)
– A summer drought in
Larry Burt, an Oregon State University Extension Service
economist who compiled an annual report on the state’s farm and ranch sales,
said mid-valley grass seed farmers were hard-hit in 2009 by a depressed housing
market. It killed demand for seed to plant new lawns. Some of those farmers
planted wheat instead, and when a drought in
“Economies in other areas were brighter (in 2010), and demand for wheat was up,” Burt said. “It is an absolute dream when they produce more, and yet still get a higher price.”
“In general, prices for agricultural commodities in 2010 were higher than the surprisingly low prices in 2009, but sales did not spring back as much as we hoped,” Burt said. His report contains preliminary estimates for gross farmgate sales for 2010 and revised numbers for 2009 and 2008.
Gross farmgate sales plunged 15 percent in 2009 over the previous year, marking the biggest percentage drop observed in more than three decades.
Crops, which made up 67 percent of all sales, dipped slightly in 2010. But the mere 0.5 percent decrease to $2.86 billion was more than offset by sales of livestock, dairy products and poultry — which made up the remaining 33 percent of sales — that increased 13.6 percent to $1.42 billion.
Eight of the 12 broad commodity groups in the report showed increases in sales in 2010 compared with the previous year.
The tree fruit and nut sector was up 3.6 percent to $310.1 million in 2010. Winter pears, however, were negatively affected by adverse weather, which reduced yields in some counties, Burt said.
The vegetable and truck crop sector increased to $294.5 million in sales, 2.6 percent higher than in 2009.
Sales of grass and legume seeds fell 16.2 percent to $255.9 million from 2009.
“Sales of grass seed continue to be down and it’s tied to
the recession,” said Bill Young, the statewide seed specialist with OSU Extension.
“There are fewer new houses and lawns to plant. People are golfing less, and
some golf courses that have used
The poultry sector continued to grow. In 2010, sales of chickens, broilers and chicken eggs were $142.7 million, 9.2 percent higher than in 2009.
Sales of small fruits and berries were $108.1 million, up 10 percent from 2009. In 2010, blueberries had a major turnaround, with prices 42 percent higher than in 2009.
Of the 82 individual commodities listed in the report, 35 increased in sales compared with 2009.
Cattle ranked No. 1 at $709 million and showed an increase of 12.8 percent because of higher prices.
Dairy products came in second at $473 million with a gain of 17.1 per cent. “Milk was up in 2010 because 2009 was a miserable year, one of the lowest on record for dairy farmers,” said Mike Gamroth, Extension dairy specialist.
Coming in third was nursery crops with a 14 percent decrease to $456 million. “The nursery industry continued to suffer from the economic turndown,” Burt said.
Wheat, which was in fourth place, climbed 36.5 percent to
$354.1 million in 2010. Some acreage that was formerly planted with grass seed
was converted to wheat in the
Ranking fifth in sales was alfalfa hay at $175.7 million, down 4.3 percent from 2009.
Sales of blueberries, the No. 1 berry crop in
Despite a reduction in yields because of bad weather, sweet cherries, the No. 2 commodity in the tree fruit and nut sector, jumped 88 percent to $71 million. That’s because the price per ton skyrocketed to $2,054 compared to $846 for the 2009 harvest, Burt said.
Sales of wine grapes declined 17 percent to $65.3 million because adverse weather reduced yields by almost 20 percent in some areas, Burt said. Prices, however, remained steady.
Sales of hazelnuts dipped 4 percent to $34.2 million versus 2009. Yields were lower, but the price increased to a near record of $1.07 per pound, Burt said.
The leading vegetable crop in
Of
Harvested land statewide totaled 3,142,096 acres in 2010 compared with 2,994,468 acres a year earlier. Of the 2010 total, 1,050,281 acres were hays and forage and 1,020,653 acres were grains.
The report, “2010
Rebel gardeners wage veggie war on city
(Reuters
via Yahoo! News)
Following in the footsteps of "guerrilla
gardeners" who have been scattering flower seeds in vacant lots and
roadsides in cities such as
Armed with vegetable seedlings and seed bombs -- seeds packed with mud for throwing into neglected urban spaces, their goal is to provide organic food for city residents.
"We want to make the city prettier, but in a different way. The zucchini plant can be as beautiful as an orchid, but it can be eaten," said Articultores coordinator Judith Villamayor after watering vegetables planted next to a parking lot.
"Our goal is for people to find carrots, courgettes or quinoa when they take a stroll ... and we want to show them how to care after the crops," she said.
The Articultores, whose name roughly translates as Arty Farmers, have thrown thousands of seed bombs in and around the sprawling capital city since they started meeting in 2009.
Although providing free vegetables amid soaring food prices
in
The group runs workshops in schools and members encourage residents to save fruit and vegetable seeds to grow their own, and to nurture the fledgling vegetable gardens.
"I should come back in a few weeks to see how the plants are doing ... I hope someone gives them some water here," said Sol Ulacia, a 29-year-old Mexican student, after planting corn seedlings in a rundown public garden.
Group members say getting residents to pick up the baton is their biggest challenge.
A plot in the Bohemian neighborhood of San Telmo, where they planted quinoa, carrots and avocados a few months ago, has become strewn with garbage.
"We have to clean the litter away and encourage them to look after the plants," Villamayor said. "It shouldn't be strange to see a neighbor watering a public garden. Food, vegetables, that is the universal language."
Guerrilla gardeners have traditionally operated under the cover of darkness to avoid detection by local authorities, but the Articultores say the police have never troubled them and that doing raids during daylight helps raise public awareness.
"Only once I was stopped by a policeman. He asked me whether there were marijuana seeds in the bomb. I said 'no' and gave him one. He gave it a sniff and said we could continue," said artist Martin Maistrello.
End Transmission