27.03.2015

Philippines - Dry spell destroys Php25.7-M worth of crops in GenSan

Around Php25.7 million worth of agricultural crops here have been devastated due to the impact of the continuing dry spell triggered by the mild El Niño Phenomenon.Merlinda Donasco, City Agriculture Office (CAO) chief, said Thursday, the intense dry weather has so far destroyed a total of 836.17 hectares of farmlands in parts of the city that were planted with corn, banana, coconut, vegetables, and other high value crops .She said the affected areas covered 15 of the city’s 26 barangays and involved a total of 455 farmers.These are barangays Batomelong, Buayan, Conel, Katangawan, Ligaya, Olympog, Sinawal, Upper Labay, Tinagacan, San Jose, Mabuhay, San Isidro, Baluan, Bawing, and Lagao.Donasco said the value of the crop damage or loss has increased as they included the high value crops in their assessment.“We’re continually monitoring the situation in some critical farm areas as the situation could worsen in the coming weeks,” she said.She said that based on an advisory issued to their office by the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), the El Nino currently affecting the city and the neighboring areas could extend until August.It said the dry spell being experienced in some parts of the country could prolong as a result of the El Nino.El Niño is a phenomenon caused by the abnormal warming of the central and eastern Pacific waters, generally manifests in a dry spell, or below normal rainfall, usually following wet conditions.PAGASA officials had identified this city and other parts of Region 12 as among the most vulnerable areas in terms of the adverse impact of the El Niño.“When that (prolonged dry spell) happens, more farm areas will certainly be affected, especially those planted with high value crops,” Donasco said.As initial intervention, the official said City Mayor Ronnel Rivera has approved their recommendation to provide immediate livelihood assistance to the affected farmers.“We will distribute drought-tolerant seeds and other suitable planting materials,” she said.Donasco said the city government has allotted an initial P9 million under its supplemental budget for the livelihood assistance and the purchase of palay and corn seeds.The palay and corn seeds will be distributed to local farmers once the dry spell would ease so they could immediately plant again, she said.As to the conduct of cloud-seeding to induce rains, she said they are still assessing the appropriate time to do it.Cloud seeding is the process of manually spreading either dry ice or salt into the upper part of the clouds to help stimulate the precipitation process and form rain.The city government has a standing allotment of P1 million for the conduct of cloud-seeding operations.“It would be waste if we give it a go and there will be no seedable clouds available and there’s also chance that the rain will eventually drop in areas outside the city,” she added.Source - http://www.mb.com.ph/

27.03.2015

India - Relief for farmers who suffered over 25% crop damage

In view of the widespread damage to crops caused by unseasonal rain across the state, Uttar Pradesh government has decided to compensate even those farmers who suffered losses between 25 and 50%. An order to the effect was received here on Wednesday. The DM has ordered revenue officials to conduct a fresh survey to assess damage to crops in the district. The assessment report is to be submitted to the state government by March 31.Earlier, only those farmers who had suffered over 50% crop damage were to receive compensation.Additional district magistrate (finance and revenue) Alok Singh told that in compliance with the government order, the DM has directed all SDMs, tehsildars and other revenue officials to undertake the assessment of damages on a warfooting as the report has to be ready by March 31. Moreover the assessment should be completed as wheat procurement will commence from April 1. Once the wheat is harvested, it would not be possible to make the assessment.When asked about the method of assessment to be adopted by the revenue staff, the ADM said the percentage of loss would be assessed by clubbing the damaged parts of the field in proportion of the total field area. He said that there was no other scientific method of making the assessment. The ADM said the administration would make efforts that the survey was being carried out to the satisfaction of farmers to ensure transparency by revenue staff.The ADM said that the amount of compensation to be awarded to affected farmers would be at the rate of Rs 9,000 per hectare as was applicable to over 50% crop damage. He said the amount of compensation against the fresh survey would be provided to the district in the next financial year as the current year would close on March 31.Source - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

26.03.2015

India should prepare to face extreme weather

Around the same time as Cyclone Pam flattened the tiny Pacific island nation of Vanuatu early this month, untimely rains and hailstorms lashed Maharashtra in India destroying at least 5.5 million hectares of winter crops.That was a big jolt to the nation still recovering from the worst calamity of its kind in Uttarakhand in June 2013 when thousands perished in flooding and landslides induced by heavy rains and, in September 2014, from the flash floods in Srinagar, the deadliest to hit the valley in 60 years.The list of extreme weather events that crippled life in India in recent times gets longer when one includes the July 26, 2005, downpour — the heaviest in recorded history — that flooded the entire city of Mumbai and the August 6, 2010, cloudburst in Leh that dumped 14 inches of rain in two hours.It was not just the extreme rain events that have surprised weathermen. The longest heat wave that swept northern India in June 2014 drove Delhi’s temperature to 47.6 degrees Celsius, the hottest in 62 years.According to Global Climate Risk Index, published by Germanwatch, India is one of the three countries (besides the Philippines and Cambodia) affected by the most extreme weather events in 2013.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has predicted that “rainfall patterns in peninsular India will become more and more erratic, with a possible decrease in overall rainfall, but an increase in extreme weather events”.Indian climatologists agree. “There has been a 50 per cent increase in extreme rainfall events during the past 50 years in India,” Jayaraman Srinivasan, chairman of the Divecha Centre for Climate Change in Bengaluru, wrote in the journal Current Science after the Uttarakhand disaster.“During the past few months there have been a few unusual weather events but there is no clear indication that these are related to global warming,” Srinivasan told IANS.“I would argue that earth’s weather and climate are governed by non-linear processes, and hence one should expect unusual weather events now and then.”He, however, added that “extreme rainfall events will increase as global warming proceeds unabated, and hence it is absolutely essential for us to be prepared to tackle more extreme rainfall events in the future”.Bhupendra Nath Goswami, former director of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) in Pune, says his studies have shown that the occurrence of “extreme rainfall events” had been increasing over the country in the last five-six decades.“We can say with a high degree of confidence that this increasing trend is due to global warming,” Goswami told IANS.Global warming, Goswami said, “increases the moisture holding capacity of the atmosphere and makes it more convectively unstable, facilitating a stronger rain event.“Because the atmosphere has become more unstable over the whole country, one or more such events can occur anywhere at a given time.”Goswami said that all climate models predict an increasing trend of these extreme events into the future.Therefore, “there is strong reason to prepare ourselves to face the potential disasters associated with increasing frequency and intensity of these events”.“This erratic behaviour is a regional manifestation of climate change,” says R. Krishnan, a senior scientist at IITM, who has made a detailed analysis of long-term climate data sets.“Our findings show that the pronounced surface warming of the Tibetan Plateau has altered the spatial distribution of atmospheric temperature, strengthened the sub-tropical westerly winds over the region and created favourable conditions for increased variability of the Western Disturbances activity,” Krishnan told IANS.Western disturbance is a low pressure system that originates over the Mediterranean sea and moves eastwards, bringing winter rain and snow to the north-western parts of the Indian subcontinent.Some British scientists suggest a possible link between the extreme events in mid-latitudes and rapid loss of the ice cap that covers the Arctic Ocean.How will the extreme rainfall events impact Indian agriculture?According to Minister of State for Agriculture Sanjeev Balyan, an analysis by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research has revealed that nearly 81.3 million hectares of area spread over 122 districts in 11 states may suffer from extreme weather events.He recently told parliament a study predicted an 18 percent reduction in crop yields for maize and six percent for wheat and rice by 2020.The impact on agriculture in the Ganges river basin — the largest food producing region in India — may be particularly pronounced according to a report in the journal Climatic Change by scientists of the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur.On the basis of Regional Climate Model simulations they predict that the Gangetic basin may face an increasing incidence of “precipitation extremes” during summer months in future. Crop productivity of wheat is expected to reduce, they report.Another Global Climate Model simulation study by researchers at the CSIR-Fourth Paradigm Institute in Bengaluru shows “intensification of extreme rainfall over most parts of India by the end of the century”.According to their report in Current Science, the increase in temperature, coupled with a decline in rainfall in the west coast, will have drastic consequences on the production of crops.“Over other regions, increases in heavy precipitation can increase surface run-off and lead to intense floods and landslides.”Source - http://www.eco-business.com/

26.03.2015

Mexico - Hail affects 95% apple orchards Canatlán

According to the Director of Rural Development of the Municipality of Canatlán, Manuel de Jesus Villaseñor Meraz, nearly 90 to 95 percent of the surface of the apple orchards were affected by the recent hailstorm. The storm also affected plots of peaches, pears, plums and apricots. The municipality is seeking support from the state and federal governments to cushion the damage suffered by the region's fruit growers.Villaseñor Meraz added: "What is urgent right now is to make an application to prevent and control possible damages, we also need to have bactericide products available, fungicides, and each producer should apply nutrients to their products to help cushion the blow a little."Source - http://www.freshplaza.com/

26.03.2015

Mexico - Worst hailstorm in 40 years destroys avocado crop

The most severe hailstorm in 40 years has hit the Mexican state of Michoacan, destroying avocado crops in some of the country's (and the world's) most productive municipalities.The most affected Michoacan municipalities are Ziracuaretiro, San Juan Nuevo, Tancítaro and Uruapan.It is estimated that more than 17,000 hectares have been seriously affected, and that the production of other fruits, such as blackberries and blueberries, has also been lost.The extent of the destruction has been such that it has endangered the health of avocado trees in Tancítaro, which grows almost 20% of Michaoacan's total annual production, which in turn represents 85% of Mexico's total production."In Tancítaro, there will no longer be any production this season, as the trees will not recover and flower again until November," explained the delegate of the Secretariat of Rural Development (Sedru), Andrés Ciprés Murguía.In San Juan Nuevo and Uruapan, the damage was not as great as in Ziracuaretiro, as due to their warmer climates the fruit was already in a more advanced development stage."We were informed that the hailstones were the size of ping-pong balls, and that even some people were injured," stated Andrés.Source - http://www.freshplaza.com/

26.03.2015

USA - Recent rains could be costly for Coastal Bend farmers

The rains we have seen lately have been a welcome relief from the drought conditions we have been suffering through for several years now, but for farmers, that rain has left their fields waterlogged, and that could end up costing them when it comes to crop insurance.Because of the overabundance of water on some fields, farmer and their equipment have been left on hold, unable to plant.Federal crop insurance requirements mandate that planting of cotton in our area has to be in the ground by April 15 to avoid penalty. If not, the farmers lose one-percent of insurance coverage every day until the eighth day, when their insurance reimbursement would be cut in half.For grain sorghum, the deadline is April 5 to plant, and if they wait until the 26th, they will lose 60-percent coverage.Congressman Blake Farenthold introduced the Farmer Flexibility Act to allow farmers until May to plant, but those who deal with farming issues are not s sure the Act will change things.Source - http://www.kiiitv.com/

26.03.2015

Spain - Horticultural sector paralysed by strong rainfall

The Spanish horticultural sector has been affected by strong rains for a week, bringing the campaign to a halt for some major products, such as citrus, strawberries and vegetables, since the fields are flooded and it is impossible to harvest.In the Region of Valencia, the provinces of Valencia and Castellon are the most affected. In Valencia, the extent of the losses has been estimated at 4 million Euro, with about 2,200 hectares damaged, mainly by hail. The province of Castellon was less affected due to the absence of hail, although some areas registered more than 500 litres per square metre. Many handling facilities have had to stop working due to the difficult access to the fields; nevertheless, the sector welcomed the water after a long period of drought.In addition to Almeria, where there have been many damages to greenhouse infrastructure, Huelva has also been affected by the prolonged rains, which have led to a reduction in the available supply of strawberries.The abundant rainfall becomes a problem for the fruit when it is ready to be harvested. "Most of the time, after such a storm, the harvest is carried out under, far from optimal, moisture conditions. Ultimately, this results in the appearance of mould and moisture issues that appear days after the fruit has been harvested," explains Hispalco manager José Beltrán.Source - http://www.freshplaza.com/

26.03.2015

Canada - Snow causing trouble for Valley orchards

The heavy spring snow has Annapolis Valley apple and grape growers in a race against time to stave off serious crop damage.“We’re all having difficulties getting into our orchards because of the deep snow, and we’re all falling behind in our pruning,” Andy Parker of CAP Farms Inc. in Grafton said in an interview Tuesday.Pruning is a critical annual component of apple production and some of it happens during the winter months and in the early weeks of spring, so growers can maximize crop production.However, the inability to prune effectively this season because of the snow has an ominous backdrop in the fire blight bacteria.The president of the Nova Scotia Fruit Growers’ Association said apple producers are scrambling against time and the deep snow to get as much pruning done as possible before the middle of May and trees begin to blossom.Don’t be surprised to see some apple producers making their way through their orchards on snowshoes pruning the tops of their trees.Some apple growers and their pruners will get into the orchards on snowshoes for an initial sweep, targeting the treetops, and then make a second pass to get the lower portions of the trees as the snow melts.A similar story was heard from Gerry Chute, a Bear River-area grape grower with about eight hectares of white and red grapes under cultivation.“We normally would be doing full pruning during February and March, and the deep snow means bringing in labour to help condense this to a shorter period of time,” said Chute, president of the Grape Growers Association of Nova Scotia.He said workers with grape-pruning experience can be hard to find and the process must be completed so the vines can be attached to wires before they start to bud.It’s difficult to prune vines buried under heavy snow. Chute said most grape growers, like most other people in agriculture, are optimistic by nature.Source - http://www.freshplaza.com/

25.03.2015

USA - Future challenges for crop insurance

The federal crop insurance program is the main risk management program that is used by most crop farmers in Minnesota, Iowa and throughout the Midwest. In Minnesota, nearly 95% of the state's major crop acreage is covered by crop insurance. The Obama Administration and some members of Congress are currently proposing some major changes in the federal crop insurance program. At the same time, other members of Congress and agricultural leaders are stressing the need to maintain a strong crop insurance program as the centerpiece of a risk protection program for U.S. crop producers.In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the federal government offered increased premium subsidies and developed new products in order to encourage greater participation in the federal crop insurance program. The concept was to have a self-selected risk management program that allowed farm operators to make individual decisions on crop insurance coverage for their various farm units. The federal government also wanted to eliminate the need for ad-hoc disaster programs that were enacted on annual basis several times during that time period, as a result of natural disasters in varying crop producing areas of the U.S. There have been very limited ad-hoc federal disaster programs related to crop production in recent years, even though the U.S. has experienced some major natural disasters.Most corn and soybean producers in Minnesota buy revenue protection (RP) crop insurance policies, which protect against the combination of yield losses and price reductions during the growing season. A base revenue level is established on a farm unit using the historic average crop yield times the average crop price at the beginning of the crop insurance coverage period. For RP policies, the insurance coverage level purchased by farm operators is a percentage of that base revenue, ranging from 50 % up to 85 %; however, the 80% and 85% coverage levels have become quite popular for corn and soybean producers in recent years. The final crop revenue on the insured farm unit is the actual crop yield times the crop price at harvest time. If the actual crop revenue is lower than the guaranteed insurance coverage, a crop insurance indemnity payment is made for that crop on that farm unit.In 2013, crop insurance policies protected nearly $10 billion of liability for growing crops in Minnesota, on 17.5 million crop acres. This included $6.3 billion of liability protection on 8.6 million acres of corn, $2.7 billion on 6.6 million soybean acres, and $364 million on 1.2 million acres of wheat. Crop insurance coverage is also important for producers of sugar beets, canning crops, and other crops.In 2013, Minnesota farmers received over $1.2 billion in crop insurance indemnity payments to offset crop production losses and revenue reductions, resulting from natural disasters and reduced crop prices. Minnesota producers are likely to receive significant indemnity payments again for the 2014 crop year, as a result of lower than average yields in many areas of the state, along with lower crop prices in fall 2014. However, back in the drought year of 2012, when many areas of the U.S. incurred major crop losses, crop insurance indemnity payments in Minnesota were much lower than other areas, due to more favorable growing conditions and better crop yields in most areas of the State.The premiums paid by farm operators for crop insurance coverage are subsidized by the federal government, with an average subsidization rate of near 62% of the total premium amount in 2014. Typical expected farmer-paid premiums for 2015 corn crop insurance coverage are about $6 per acre for 75% RP coverage, $11.00 per acre for 80% RP coverage, and $21 per acre for 85% RP coverage. Many times farm operators purchase additional hail and wind insurance coverage.The 2014 Farm Bill included payment limits of $125,000 per eligible individual for commodity farm program payments, but did not include any limits on crop insurance premium subsidy levels or indemnity payments. Beginning in 2015, the farm bill requires producers to comply with federal conservation and wetland requirements on their crop acres in order to receive crop insurance premium benefits. Otherwise, the farm operator will need to pay the full premium cost for crop insurance. Farm size, crop value, and individual adjusted gross income (AGI) have never been criteria for receiving federal crop insurance benefits.The Obama Administration recently proposed a crop insurance spending reduction of $16 billion over the next 10 years (2016-2025), or an average reduction of $1.6 billion per year, which is a 17% reduction in spending allocation. The current projected federal spending on crop insurance programs is estimated at about $9 billion annually. If food and nutrition programs are excluded from proposed spending for the 2014 Farm Bill, approximately 45% of the remaining spending is allocated to crop insurance programs. This compares to the proposed farm bill spending of 23% for the commodity programs, 28% for conservation programs, and 4% for other USDA programs.The spending reductions proposed by the Obama Administration would be accomplished by reducing the premium subsidy levels on some crop insurance products, and limiting prevented planting coverage. There are also proposals to put restrictions on subsidizing the popular harvest-price option that is available with revenue-protection (RP) policies, and is utilized by a majority of Midwest corn and soybean producers. The harvest-price option permits producers that incur yield reductions greater than their coverage level (example: 80% of average yield) to have added crop insurance protection if crop prices are higher at harvest time than the base price on March 1. This option allows farm operators to forward price a higher percentage of their crop production at profitable prices, while still having insurance protection against the possibility of very low crop yields at harvest time. This was extremely important in 2012 in areas of the U.S. that were impacted by the major drought that year.In recent years, there have been other proposals to reduce or restrict crop insurance benefits; however, these proposals have never gotten too far in Congress. However, there now seems to a bit more momentum behind proposals to change crop insurance, with support from the Obama Administration, as well as from some budget conservatives in Congress. Due to the current and expected future low commodity price levels, Federal spending on the commodity programs in the Farm Bill over the next few years is expected to significantly exceed the original spending targets. This will likely further increase the call to enact crop insurance reductions.Members of Congress from major agriculture production states, such as Minnesota and Iowa, are likely to defend the current crop insurance program, and try to minimize any federal spending reductions for crop insurance. Most Midwestern crop producers view the current crop insurance program as their most important farm risk management tool.Source - http://cornandsoybeandigest.com/

25.03.2015

Spain - Wintry weather affects agricultural plantations in Almería

The coastal towns of Spain are hoping for an improvement in the weather as Easter Week approaches, but for the time being the start of spring continues to be marked by low temperatures, high winds and rain.In Almería the rain was especially heavy over Friday and the weekend, causing problems for farmers and agriculturalists due to mudslides and flooding, and many agriculturalists once again suffered the loss of the greenhouses in which tomatoes and vegetables are grown due to the combination of rain and high winds, according to farmers’ union COAG.The same agriculturalists suffered similar problems during the previous bout of stormy weather when heavy hail flattened many greenhouses due to the sheer weight of accumulated hailstones.Source - http://spanishnewstoday.com/

25.03.2015

Ukraine - Wheat and maize harvests seen falling

Ukraine's wheat and maize harvests are likely to decrease this year due to unfavourable weather during the autumn sowing and a smaller sown area. The wheat harvest is likely to decrease to 20.6 million tonnes from 22.5 millions tonnes in 2014, while maize output could fall to 23.0 million tonnes from 25.9 million tonnes.About 85 percent of winter wheat plantings, which account for 95 percent of the country's overall wheat output, were in good and satisfactory condition as of mid-March.However, the shares of good and satisfactory crops were at 93.4 percent a year earlier.Early spring, gradual increase of air temperature and sufficient soil moisture will contribute to further improvement of wheat crop conditions.Wheat productivity is expected to decrease due to reduction of mineral fertilisers application, as well as higher share of weak and sparse crops than during the previous two seasons.The planted area of maize was likely to decline by about 10 percent to around 4.4 million hectares.Source - http://www.brecorder.com/

25.03.2015

Mexico - Torrential rains and cold wave hit several states

Millers hectares are flooded in several states of Mexico.Unusual weather conditions in Mexico. Heavy rains and torrential affected 14 states of the country. These rains are really unusual , and in Aguascalientes and Nuevo Leon region, it was recorded 72 hours of continuous rain, the same amount of rainfall that over the last 5 years.Thousands of hectares are flooded and hundreds of agricultural facilities are destroyed. Among the hardest hit states, the state of Michoacan, leading region for the production of avocados, lemons, onions, lentils, peas , strawberries . The losses have not yet been quantified.Source - http://www.blackseagrain.net/

25.03.2015

FG grants NAIC $5m to revamp agric insurance

In a bid to reform and reposition agricultural insurance as well as drive increased risk management services in the country. The Federal Government has released the sum of $5 million (about N1, 130 million) to the company (NAIC).This was disclosed by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina in Lagos recently at the inauguration of NAIC, Lagos Head Officer Annex.According to the minister, who gave the directive for the release of the funds to NAIC. It was meant to support the agency’s institutional reforms, strengthen its operations and roll out more agriculture insurance products.He stated that the gesture was to ensure that the administration delivered flawless and efficient risk management services to stakeholders in the nation’s agric sector.The minister, who was represented by the Director, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, South-West zone, Mr Olaekan Quadri, urged NAIC to spring into immediate action as well as collaborate with global reinsurance companies to make agricultural insurance in Nigeria attain global standard.With agricultural being repositioned as the lifeline of the national economy through the transformation of the agricultural sector to create jobs and revive the rural economy, Adesina noted that within the past three years, over 14.5 million farmers of which over 2.5 million women have received farm inputs directly through the e-wallet scheme of the GES.He explained further that the federal government through the ministry has also developed policies and risk transfer systems to protect farmers from the effects of climate change.Adesina also said the measures through the ATA ad enabled the sector to stabilize the country’s economy despite the depreciation in the value of the naira and the collapse in crude oil prices, food prices have been largely stable.Speaking at the event, the chairman, Board of Directors of NAIC, Mrs Chioma Ohakim who confirmed the decline in the nation’s food import bill by 408 per cent pledged the commitment of her ogranisation to ensure the effective use of the funds to actualise its set objective.The goal of the federal government is to ensure that over 15 million farmers are covered by crop and livestock insurance in 3 years time.Source - http://www.thetidenewsonline.com/

24.03.2015

India - Nearly 40,000 hectares of crops damaged

With unseasonal rain lashing the state since February, over 40,000 hectares of rabi crop has been damaged in the state, Maharashtra state agriculture minister, Eknath Kadse said recently.The financial loss is yet to be fully assessed, Kadse adds.“After we come to know the actual loss, the government will roll out compensations to farmers,” Maharashtra state agriculture ministry official told.“The state had seen huge loss due in food grains output due to unseasonal rains across the state, not even our state the whole country has face the heat of such weather,” official adds.According to the survey, unpredictable weather only 226 talukas have received 70 per cent of average rainfall out of 355 talukas driving the agriculture growth into negative by 1 per cent.If growth in allied sectors such as fisheries and animal husbandry are not recorded, state agriculture growth has declined to 12.3 per cent.The production of cereals is likely to fall by 28 per cent, pulses 45 per cent, oilseeds 53 per cent and cotton 25 per cent. The deficient rainfall resulted in the area under rabi crop cultivation falling by 27 per cent. The food grain production is estimated at 10.01 million tonnes in 2014-15 compared with 14.57 million tonnes, a decline of 31 per cent.Source - http://www.blackseagrain.net/

24.03.2015

Nigeria - FG boosts agric insurance with N1.1 billion

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has disclosed that he has directed the release of $5 million (about N110 million) to Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Company (NAIC) to support its institutional reforms.The gesture, he added, will also strengthen the company's operations and roll out of agricultural insurance products.The minister, who was represented by South West Regional Director, Minister of Agriculture, Olalekan Quadri, spoke during the commissioning of Lagos Head Office Annex of NAIC on Thursday.He said the goal is to ensure that over 15 million farmers are covered by crop and livestock insurance in the next three years.He said: "I have given directive to the National Agricultural Insurance Company (NAIC) to totally reform and reposition agricultural insurance."To ensure this, I have directed the release of $5 million to NAIC to support its institutional reforms, strengthening of its operations and roll out of agricultural insurance products."I have also directed that NAIC ensures that it works with global reinsurance companies to make agricultural insurance in Nigeria of global standard".In recognition of the fact that extreme weather effects are likely to become more prevalent due to climate change, Adesina pointed out that there is need to scale up agricultural insurance programmes to ensure that farmers and agribusinesses are protected.He added: "In acknowledgement of the importance of risk management in agricultural investment, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development decided to reposition the Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation in order to build its capacity and prepare it to more effectively meet the insurance needs of the agricultural sector.Source - http://allafrica.com/

24.03.2015

Canada - Vineyards survey damage caused by the winter’s harsh cold

Wine producers around Southern Georgian Bay are taking a closer look at the damage caused by the winter’s extreme cold.Mike Todd was out surveying the grape vines at the Coffin Ridge Winery in Meaford on Monday. He was looking closely at small fruit buds to see if cold weather this winter caused any damage.“I'm looking to see if the primary bud is still alive, because when it grows that is the bud that will produce fruit for us and obviously fruit is what we are after to make wine,” he says.That cold has resulted in some damage to the vines in the region. Further south in the Niagara region, temperatures also dipped below -20 C, where more cold sensitive varieties of grapes like Syrah, Merlot and Chardonnay are grown. Losses are expected to vary from vineyard to vineyard.At the Georgain Hills Vineyards, Robert Ketchin expects his crop to be down 30 per cent to 50 per cent for the second year in a row and that may force the winery to reconsider some of the types of grapes being grown.“The reality is some are hardier than others, and as we go along over the next five years, we will adjust our vineyards and definitely learned from these harsh winters.”Even so, there will be no shortage of wine. Ketchin says there are thousands of cases of wine in storage from past vintages to help supplement their supply. Back at Coffin Ridge, Todd says he will change the way vines are pruned this year, so he can take advantage of all the fruit buds that are there.“We are going to prune around the damage, which shouldn't be too much of a problem,” says Todd. “I haven’t checked the back of the vineyard, which is probably more damaged. If it's 70 per cent damaged we will have to manage it differently. “Grape growers will have a better idea what this year’s crop will be like later this spring, when the vines start to blossom.Source - http://barrie.ctvnews.ca/