Australia - Murray River flooding persists with grape, citrus growers facing uncertainty over harvest

09.12.2022 800 views

Three quarters of Roberto Fuoco's table grape property in north-west Victoria is underwater and more rain is expected in the coming days.

The harvest at his Nichols Point property would usually begin in February, but at this stage it's unclear if any of his fruit could be picked. 

The situation was probably not helped by the fact the only way he could get around his vines was via canoe.  

Mr Fuoco expected crop losses and redevelopment costs on his property to add up to millions of dollars. 

The Australian Table Grape Association's industry development manager Jenny Treeby said hundreds of hectares of crop was under threat.

"There are two different types of growers, ones that have built levees, they are going to be worrying for a long time about whether they'll break or not," Ms Treeby said

"Then there's a smaller number of growers that are fully inundated."

Ms Treeby said it was unclear what kind of impact the flooding would have on vine health and grape production.

"Most of the science we can access has only been for vines that have been inundated for up to six weeks, this will be much longer," she said.

Thousands of hectares impacted

The latest figures from Agriculture Victoria shows more than 498,629 hectares of farmland had been flood affected.

There's been 15,662 livestock deaths reported and almost 12,000 kilometres of damaged fencing.

Rural Financial Counsellors are helping flood-affected farmers apply for grants, loans and subsidies.

Further downstream in New South Wales, flooding was also affecting John Waters's eight hectares of citrus.

"I can't even do anything on the property because there's water through everything. If there's disease control or anything it can't be done unless you bring in an aerial sprayer," he said.

The flood peak has been revised several times and was now not expected to arrive until later this month.

That means Mr Waters would need to continue accessing his property by boat for several weeks.

"When the floods come up here, they stay around for a long time, so it will be months before I can get back in the orchard again," Mr Waters said.

Authorities predict the Murray River at Mildura will peak between December 15 and 17.

Source - https://www.abc.net.au

06.04.2026

Pakistan - Governor SBP Calls for Scaling Up Zarkheze to Expand Agricultural Credit Outreach

The State Bank of Pakistan on Wednesday urged banks to expand the use of its digital agricultural lending platform, Zarkheze, to improve access to credit for small farmers and underserved areas across the country. 

06.04.2026

India - Chouhan orders crop loss assessment after storms

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday directed ministry officials to conduct a comprehensive assessment of crop losses following unseasonal heavy rainfall accompanied by hailstorms and strong winds over the past two days across several States. 

06.04.2026

India's Farm Insurance Goes Digital, Attracting Major Capital

Agricultural insurance in India is evolving beyond simple aid to create a detailed risk management system. 

06.04.2026

India - Crop loss, mandi curbs spark farmer protests in Haryana

Farmers staged protests in Hisar, Fatehabad and Jind on Thursday, demanding compensation for crop losses caused by recent rain, hailstorm and strong winds, while also opposing new mandi restrictions and alleging harassment during the procurement season.

06.04.2026

India - Akali leaders Harsimrat, Majithia seek compensation for crop damage due to hailstorms

Chandigarh, Senior SAD leader and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Monday urged the Union agriculture minister to send a special team to Punjab to assess the damage caused to the standing wheat crop by hailstorms.

06.04.2026

Pakistan - Rain persists in Rawalpindi and Islamabad as farmers fear wheat crop losses

Rain continued in Rawalpindi and Islamabad on Saturday, while authorities remained on alert in Murree and along Leh Nullah. Farmers in the Potohar region also expressed concern over possible damage to standing wheat crops from rain and hailstorms.

02.04.2026

USA - Court rejects crop insurance tech vendor's emergency bid to block USDA rule

The federal agency had greenlit the business model three times before reversing course.

02.04.2026

Ukraine plans to expand crop insurance program

The state crop insurance program in Ukraine is planned to be gradually scaled up and expanded to cover a wider range of crops. This was announced by the Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture Taras Vysotskyi, as reported by Latifundist.