26.02.2015

India - Budget Session: Farmers for more funds, adequate security to crops

Farmers of the country are hopeful of getting more funds and adequate insurance for their crops in the upcoming Budget to be presented to Parliament.The farmers in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir said that the successive governments have taken some policy decisions to improve the farm output but the benefits have failed to trickle down at the lower level."I want to appeal to the federal government that this time they should focus on farmers while preparing the budget. It should cover the insurance of the farmers and their families. It should also include risk coverage for the farmers because farmers suffer badly due to weather," said Sidhu Lal, a farmer.The chief agricultural officer of Rajouri district, Sadaqat Hussain, who has been working with the farmers to help improve their output and sharing government initiatives with them, rues the fact that the government policies have not yielded much."The political party that was in power before although took a few steps , in reality it failed to show a positive outcome. Today farmers are actually struggling hard for the sake of survival only," said Hussain.The Minimal Support Price (MSP) of food grain has been increased more than 100 percent over the past 10 years but it has hardly benefited the small farmers, who are either not aware of such policies or are forced to sell their produce to private procurement agents.The Budget Session contains 44 items of financial, legislative and non-legislative business.The first part of the Budget Session will continue till March 20 while the second part will commence after a month-long break from April 20 and conclude on May 8.Source - http://www.business-standard.com/

26.02.2015

USA - Ocean acidification threatens Florida shellfish

Florida and 14 other states face big economic losses from global warming-induced "ocean acidification" that could gut commercially valuable shellfish populations, according to a new study.The highest vulnerability in Florida resides in the Panhandle, home to most of state's shellfish industry. But off Florida's east coast, little is know about the long-term effects of lower pH in the ocean or the Indian River Lagoon."We're monitoring very little coastal waters," said Lisa Suatoni, senior scientist at Natural Resources Defense Council, a nonprofit group that lead the study. "We have no information about the ocean chemistry for most of the east coast and west coast of Florida."Nationally, the counties in the Florida Panhandle ranked 11th in economic dependence on shelled mollusks, according to the study, published online this week in the journal, Nature Climate Change.The study included researchers from NRDC, Duke University, University of Miami, Oregon State University, and several other universities.The research was funded by the National Science Foundation.The researchers studied oyster, clam and scallop harvests because those are likely to be the first harmed by ocean acidification. They then mapped coastal communities most vulnerable to declining harvests. Maine, Connecticut, Louisiana and the Carolinas were among the most vulnerable.But lower pH also could hamper efforts to restore oysters in the Indian River Lagoon. That's because excess nitrogen from fertilizer, sewage and other sources could heighten acidification, by triggering algae blooms. Bacteria that consume rotting algae release more CO2 in the water, Suatoni said. "It makes the problem even worse," she said.Oceans absorb about a third of the carbon dioxide from the fossil-fuel fallout and other sources. As CO2 reacts with seawater, it slows the rate sea life can calcify to form shells and skeletons.Although dubbed "acidification," seas won't actually become acidic, just less "basic" in pH.Shellfish harvest generated an average of $6 million annually over the past decade in Florida, the study said. But the state's coral reefs generate more than $300 million a year, according to federal studies."We didn't include coral reef in this study, even though they are incredibly vulnerable," Suatoni said. "Anytime they're hit by diseases or a storm, they rebound much slower. It's like osteoporosis: once you break your bone, it's very hard to repair it."Seagrass might thrive in CO2-rich conditions, but coral might not form skeletons fast enough to replace itself. Starfish, snails, urchins and lobster could be impacted, too. Biologists also speculate that carbonic acid also might buildup in body fluids of fish and other marine organisms, weakening their respiratory and immune function.The researchers call for water pollution reductions from farms, development and sewage. They also urge more investment in shellfish aquaculture, especially to cultivate acidification-resistant shellfish.Source - http://www.floridatoday.com/

25.02.2015

USA - Almond growers consider beekeeping

Covered in white blossoms, California almond orchards are now teeming with millions of honeybees that have been placed into orchards to pollinate the season's bloom, brought on early by sunny winter weather.Successfully pollinating the state's 860,000 bearing acres of almonds will require an estimated 1.7 million bee colonies that come from beekeepers in California and out of state. The apiary business has experienced many challenges the past several years, including significant bee losses from the mysterious colony collapse disorder, mite problems, a lack of forage and impacts attributed to crop-protection materials applied during bloom.To secure enough bees to pollinate its almond crop, Paramount Farming Co., a leading San Joaquin Valley almond and pistachio grower, purchased one of the largest beekeepers in the U.S., Florida-based Headwaters Farm."In an environment where bee supply is always in question every year, it gives us a little bit of security to have our own bees," said Gordon Wardell, Paramount director of pollination operations. "The stronger the colony, the better the pollination. In a year like this when we have a very compressed bloom, it's very important to have strong colonies to get out there and hit as many flowers as possible."Using its own bees and bees supplied by outside beekeepers, Paramount needs more than 90,000 colonies this year to pollinate its almonds.Almond growers managing their own bees is not new—but some have been successful, and some have not, said Ryan Cosyns of Madera County, whose family grows almonds and manages their own bees."The beekeeper (we had used) lost half of their hives two years in a row and notified us in January saying, 'We only have half of what you need.' This is really what spurred us to buy our own bees (in 2005), just that fear of being without bees for pollination," Cosyns said. "We got into the bee business to run our own bees, but then we inherited leased bees and some other accounts, but beekeeping wasn't really in our initial plan."Butte County almond grower Dan Cummings, who has 10 years of apiary experience, said growers are always looking at ways to be vertically integrated, and taking care of pollination by purchasing bees is an option."For us in the Sacramento Valley, about one-seventh of the cost of producing a pound of almonds—a variable cost of production—is for bee rent. So, if you are inclined for vertically integrating and taking control of a critical input, bees are a natural place to look," Cummings said. "It is not only profit motivation and securing the inputs, but beekeeping is an interesting facet of a critical component of farming almonds."Queen-bee breeder Brad Pankratz of Orland, president of the California State Beekeepers Association, said some almond growers in his area attempted to manage bees, but not always with great success."One of my bigger growers tried to manage his own bees, but it didn't work out and he had to rent more bees from me this year than the year before," Pankratz said. "Now, with the lack of forage and the drought, if you are not an experienced beekeeper you are really going to have a hard time with keeping bees if you don't know what you are doing."Skilled labor is difficult to find and apiary businesses need workers who can diagnose diseases when they open a hive, which is tough, Pankratz said."Training guys takes a lot more than you think, for them to get it where you can send them out on their own," he said."Beekeeping is a tough thing to vertically integrate into," Cummings acknowledged, citing the "specialized knowledge and commitment" needed. "It is a very special individual that can do that, because beekeeping isn't easy by any stretch of the imagination."Regarding whether more almond growers will decide to manage their own bees, Paramount's Wardell said he believes "other almond growers will watch to see how it works for us.""Growers have tried this in the past and haven't always been successful, but there are almond growers that do own their own bees already," Wardell said. "It will be interesting to see if other almond growers do follow suit and do try to acquire their own bees."In keeping with its other farming endeavors, the division managing bees for Paramount will be called Wonderful Bees and could market honey products, he said, although its primary focus is pollinating almonds.Like other almond growers, Paramount has tried alternatives to reduce the number of honeybees needed, such as planting self-fertile almond trees that require fewer pollinators, and using blue orchard bees, which are being studied to work either in combination with honeybees or to even replace them."With the self-fertile almond, you can reduce the number of colonies in the orchard, but you still have to have a pollinator. Even then, we'd still need 45,000 colonies at one colony per acre," Wardell said. "Blue orchard bees do a great job and complement the honeybees very well, but we're having trouble getting the numbers up to do the level of pollination that we have to do."New to pollination this season is a set of bee "best management practices," released last fall by the Almond Board of California as a guide to improve honeybee health. Practices were developed with input from almond growers, beekeepers, researchers, chemical registrants and regulators. The board described the practices as steps farmers can take with beekeepers to protect and promote bee health.In the Central Valley orchards where Cosyns places bees, peak bloom has arrived, he said, and varieties such as Sonora have already reached petal fall.The average price to growers for a colony guaranteed to contain eight frames of honeybees, Cosyns said, stands at about $180. The bees look good, he said, adding that he believes that after bloom there may be a little more forage this year than last year—but not enough."It seems there is a little more blooming in the pastures and the grape vineyards, but with the number of hives that are here, the forage pretty much evaporates," he said.Source - http://www.agalert.com/

25.02.2015

USA - Frigid temps impacting vineyards in Finger Lakes

Jenna LaVita is with Ventosa Vineyards on the eastern side of Seneca Lake.We have seen temperatures get below zero in Central New York several times recently, and for many vineyards, the number they are looking for is -5 degrees.Once the temperature gets below there, they could start seeing significant losses in the harvest.While she does not expect it, in the case of a massive crop loss, they do have the ability to recover some of their yield by using vines which had been buried underground the previous season.The point when a vine will no longer produce fruit can fluctuate by a few degrees. The winds coming off Seneca Lake are actually helping Ventosa out. Temperatures have been close to a breaking point between when buds could die or remain healthy, and even though wind chills are intense, they do not affect the plants.So the winds off Seneca Lake are helpful, because they move the pockets of air around, helping vines from hitting that -5 degree thresh hold.Ventosa is one of the few growers of rare Mediterranean grapes, which have a lower threshold for cold. These grapes are the ones the folks at Ventosa are most concerned with.Source - http://www.cnycentral.com/

25.02.2015

Mobile technology helps Sri Lanka cope with climate change

Floods and landslides linked to climate change have battered parts of Sri Lanka in the past two years, disrupting food output, but scientists believe a new program to install low-cost weather stations based on open-source technology could help farmers adapt to increasingly wild weather.New Mobile Weather Stations, made mainly from local parts, are starting to give farmers quick access to rainfall data, so they can better plan for floods or other extreme weather, Yann Chemin, a scientist leading the new initiative, said on Tuesday.The easy-to-make sensors cost about $250 to produce compared with about $10,000 for standard weather stations, he said.When more of the systems have been produced, Chemin hopes to have text messages sent from the sensors directly to farmers and government officials when rainfall levels are expected to rise in a specific area.When farmers get the information, they will have roughly six hours to empty irrigation tanks, or make other adjustments in their fields to prevent crop losses from floods, he said."This isn't rocket science, but it does give people time to react so they can save lives and crops," Chemin told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.In some parts of north central Sri Lanka, 65 percent of crops have been destroyed in the past two years due to floods and other disasters linked to climate change, he said.The information will also allow rural households to get ready to collect rain water for drinking.Several dozen Sri Lankans, including rural blacksmiths and electricians, along with urban electronic designers, have been hired to produce the weather stations, Chemin said, creating jobs while helping communities cope with climate change.Source - http://news.yahoo.com/

25.02.2015

Why Vietnam’s agriculture industry is unsustainable

There is no escaping the inevitable fact that larger crop farms perform better financially, on average, than smaller farms. The difference results mainly from lower costs of production.Lower costsLarger farms don’t have higher revenue or yields per hectare—they simply have lower costs per unit of labour and capital.Take for example the case of farmers in the US, where large farms now dominate crop production. In the early 1980s most cropland was operated by farms with less than 245 crop hectares.However today most cropland is on farms with at least 450 hectares and many farms are five and ten times that size.Meanwhile in 1987, the midpoint dairy herd size was 80 cows; however today the size has climbed to 570 cows. The change in hogs has even been more striking, from 1,200 hogs removed in a year to now over 30,000.In an interview with Countryside Today newspaper late last year, head of CIEM's Rural Development research department Luu Duc Khai said that it is very difficult to improve labour productivity in the Vietnamese agriculture sector due to its small and fragmented scale of production.For example, in the northern provinces, 60% of farmer households had less than 0.5 hectares of land in 2011, compared with 71% of in 1994. In addition, Vietnam’s labour productivity in agriculture has been extremely low, even compared to Laos and Cambodia, he said.Stuck in a treadmillMany leading economists have suggested that by and large Vietnamese farmers, like farmers around the globe, have also been stuck in a treadmill. They are forced by competition to increase productivity and the increased productivity in turn leads to lower prices.Product development and innovation, which allows industrial companies to stay out of a similar treadmill, doesn’t help the crop farmer, though it does benefit those businesses higher up the food chain such as the food processors and retailers.This treadmill is the reason for the enormous pace in increase in size and productivity in farming in countries like the US, Russia and Argentina. The lower profit margins per hectare force farmers to constantly develop and improve and compensate by making up the loss of earnings by doing a larger volume of business.Competitive disadvantagesKhai said for farmers who can’t participate in this stiff competition there is no way out – or rather there is only one way out – get out.We have no choice but to shift the country's rural economic and agricultural production structure to industries with higher added values, Khai said, adding that specifically the nation needs to expand industrial parks including processing industrial zones in rural areas.We need to put more farm workers into the industrial and service sectors, he stressed.Vietnamese farmers will never be able to produce grain for the same costs as their competitors in the US – or even Russia or Argentina for that matter – even if they could intensify production and get higher yields per hectare.The nation needs to perfect the overall agricultural production system and lay a foundation for making investment plans to concentrate on infrastructure development and management for higher value added agriculture products and get out of the commodity market, Khai concluded.He suggests that the state should create policies to encourage investment and support agricultural expansion and infrastructure development for fields with high added value such as breeding and aquaculture. If the state does that, these fields could develop and attract more productive labour to the field.Source - http://english.vietnamnet.vn/

25.02.2015

USA - Crop disaster assistance deadline is Saturday

Saturday is the deadline for local producers to purchase coverage through the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program, according to a news release from the Etowah/St. Clair County Farm Service Agency.NAP provides financial assistance to producers of noninsurable crops when low yields/grazing loss, loss of inventory or prevented planting occur because of natural disasters including drought, freeze, hail, excessive moisture, excessive wind or hurricanes.The Agricultural Act of 2014 allows producers to choose higher levels of NAP coverage. Previously, the program offered coverage at 55 percent of the average market price for crop losses that exceeded 50 percent. Eligible producers can apply for coverage using form CCC-471, Application for Coverage. Producers must file the application and pay a service fee by Saturday’s deadline. The service fee is the lesser of $250 per crop or $750 per producer per administrative county, not to exceed a total of $1,875 for a producer with farming interests in multiple counties.Limited resource and traditionally underserved farmers may request a waiver of the service fee and a 50 percent premium reduction when the application for coverage is filed.Deadlines also are approaching for other safety net programs established by the farm bill — Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage.Friday is the final day to update yield history or reallocate base acres, and the final day for farm owners and producers to choose coverage is March 31.Source - http://www.gadsdentimes.com/

25.02.2015

Ukraine - In 2015 winter crops to be replanted throughout 15% of the areas

In 2015 Ukraine will be subject to replant winter crops throughout 15% of the areas, or 1.2 mln ha, declared Tatiana Adamenko, Head of the department of agrometeorology of the Ukrainian hydrometeorological center, on February 24.According to her forecast, in the current year 1.2 mln ha of winter crops will be lost, perished or low-yielding. T.Adamenko added that last year Ukrainian agrarians replanted winter crops throughout only 4% of the areas under the crops.According to her, the share of replanting works for winter crops in the current year will exceed the average annual index, which totals 7% for Ukraine.In the autumn period of optimum terms for planting works, there were 60% of the planted areas in the drought-affected condition. In addition, during the second half of October 2014 the first frosts hit, and it snowed in Ukraine. In November the condition of winter crops did not improve at all. As a result, 16% of winter crops entered the winter period in poor condition, explained T.Adamenko, and added that 1% of winter crop recovered due to the thaw period in December.At the same time, she noted that winter barley in southern oblasts covered nearly one half in the structure of the crops areas in the current year.As a result, the yield indices of winter crops in the current year will be lower compared with last year. According to the forecast of the hydrometeorological center as of February 20, the yield of winter wheat will reduce to nearly 3.2-3.5 t/ha, against 4 t/ha in 2014.Source - http://www.apk-inform.com/

24.02.2015

Costa Rica - Pineapple scarce due to cold and rain

Rainfall and low temperatures in the north and the Caribbean are slowing down the pace of the pineapple harvest in Costa Rica."Due to the cold, it takes much longer for the fruit to reach the desired Brix level, consequently slowing down the normal flow of shipments," pointed out Alexander Mulder, representative of the Dutch importer Frankort & Koning.This drop in shipments has caused a significant increase in prices in the European market. According to Alexander, the wholesale price per 11 kilo box has risen to 13 Euro for the larger calibres, and to 11/12 Euro for smaller sizes, which is an increase of between 50% and 60%.Christian Herrera, president of the CANAPEP, told that registering plenty of rainfall is normal for this time of year, although over the past two years, as a result of the weather phenomenon known as La Niña, rains had not been as abundant, so production did not suffer fluctuations."We cannot yet say to what extent the harvest has been reduced, but the effects have been quite noticeable. In any case, the weather is showing signs of going back to normal, and we expect good weather this week, so production should return to normal levels too," stated Christian Herrera.Source - http://www.freshplaza.com/

24.02.2015

USA - Minimal damage from freezing temperatures

Freezing temperatures hit Florida late last week, but growers in the affected part of the state reported little damage from the cold.A freeze warning was issued for the western part of Florida early Friday morning. Winter vegetables and strawberries are some of the crops grown in that region that were at risk. But through the end of last week, growers reported little damage in their fields.Growers took precautions against the cold by covering their crops and running water through their fields. Freezing temperatures were observed for only a few hours, and growers noted that, barring prolonged exposure to freezing temperatures that lasts more than a few hours, the precautions taken should be enough to stave off any significant damage.Source - http://www.freshplaza.com/

24.02.2015

Mexico - Serious losses for the blackberry of the Valley of the Kings

The head of the Exifrut Company, Roberto Maldonado Hinojosa, said that more than 40 percent of the blackberry producers of the Valley of the Kings had had total losses as a result of the climatic changes in recent months; mainly due to the hailstorms, which greatly affected producers."Many crops have been lost. It is something that always hurts, but we producers are used to this. Other municipalities had many losses because of the frost in January and February also affected crops, but so far there have been no great frosts this year," he added. The businessman said the producers needed to approach the secretariat to obtain support, so that they could insure their crops and wouldn’t lose them like every year."We are completely subjected to the weather. It’s important we get together so we can call the government and tell them they need to help us because we are a very important part in the economy of Michoacán," he said. Finally, Maldonado Hinojosa spoke about this sector’s demand for the creation of a macrotunnel, which, according to him, will last many years.Source - http://www.freshplaza.com/

24.02.2015

USA - Crops impacted by freezing temps

Local farmers are expecting to take a big hit this year in crop production due to the weather, which may eventually hurt the local economy.The subzero temperatures Erie County has experienced has impacted many people over the past few weeks, but come this fall, this weather will continue to sting for local farmers.Crops such as apples, cherries, peaches, and other stone fruits can be killed very easily with sudden shifts in temperature.This coming fall when it comes time to harvest, local farmers anticipate there will be very short supply which may increase prices.Burch Farms already estimates about half of their apple orchard will be rendered useless come harvest time.After seeing -22 degree temperatures in their vineyards, Arrowhead Winery is already preparing for a 30-50% loss in their crops.These local farmers are anticipating a mess later this year when it comes time to harvest, and have already predicted worse losses than previous years, which in the end, can negatively impact the local economy.As of right now it will be until around June before the farmers can determine whether or not their trees and vines are completely dead.Source - http://www.yourerie.com/

24.02.2015

Australia - Cyclone Marcia hits central Qld horticulture industry

Peak horticulture industry body Growcom said today that parts of the Queensland horticulture industry had suffered major damage following the devastation wrought by Tropical Cyclone Marcia over the weekend.Chief Executive Officer Alex Livingstone said that while there was fortunately no loss of life or injury to horticultural growers, early reports indicated that tropical fruit crops like lychees, mangoes, avocados, dragon fruit and pineapple crops had been destroyed near Yeppoon, together with much of the region’s farming infrastructure.“On ground reports at Yeppoon say that the cyclone has cleared a swathe through tropical fruit crops with trees uprooted and infrastructure such as sheds and irrigation systems destroyed. Pineapple growers who have lost their crops are facing a loss of two years’ income. For tree crop growers where the destroyed trees were fully mature the wait is more like five years.“We are also concerned about the citrus industry around Gayndah where flood waters may have affected tree stocks.“On the plus side, the Bundaberg region appears to have missed the worst of the conditions which is good news for small crop and tree crop growers in the area.“It may be some time before growers are able to inspect their properties. Road closures at places like Gympie will have thrown growers’ harvesting schedules into disarray if transport companies have not planned alternative routes to market.“We will not know the full story until electricity and telephone communications are restored and roads are open. Progress has been slow in this area in some parts of the region.”Mr Livingstone said the industry had begun negotiations with federal and state levels of governments in order to obtain a swift response for the region’s affected growers.“We thank the State Government for promptly providing financial assistance of $180 per person or up to $900 for families needing urgent help under Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA) in conjunction with the Federal Government.“We are phoning members and impacted growers in the affected region to assess the damage. We have already sent out a damage assessment form to growers and the sooner we have these estimates back to government, the sooner we will be able to negotiate appropriate assistance.Source - http://www.freshplaza.com/

24.02.2015

Grains 'badly affected by winterkill' in Ukraine and Russia

Winter grains in parts of Russia and Ukraine "appear to be considerably affected by frost kill", in contrast with crops in the European Union which are "generally in good shape".The European Commission's crop monitoring unit, named Mars, said that winter grain crops in north eastern Ukraine and southern Russia looked like they had already suffered significant damage from winterkill, a reflection of poor autumn sowing conditions as well as freezing temperatures."These regions were affected by severe frosts until mid-January, when the snow cover was inadequate to protect the crops," Mars said in a monthly report.Seedlings were "vulnerable due to their weak establishment as a consequence of insufficient rains and dry soil conditions during the start of the winter cropping season".Winter crop fearsThe caution is the latest of a series over winter grain prospects in the region, and particularly in Russia, where farm ministry data last week showed that winter cereals production may fall by more than 40%.The crop may fall to 28m-30m tonnes, from 48m tonnes last year, if plants are lost on the 3.6m hectares rated as being in bad condition.Russian farmers sowed 16.8m hectares with autumn-planted grains for the 2015 harvest, up some 800,000 hectares year on year, a rise encouraged by dry conditions which left crops in many areas underdeveloped when cold winter temperatures kicked in.While growers still have plenty of time to replant, spring grains tend to have lower yields than their autumn-sown equivalents, and there are worries about how depreciated currencies and tight financing conditions in Russia and Ukraine might affect growers' appetite for spring plantings.'Practically no low temperature tolerance'By contrast, in the European Union, Mars said that its research suggested "only local and limited frost-kill crop damages in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Poland".Indeed, for most of the EU, the growing season so far "has been characterised by overall positive thermal anomalies".The downside of the lack of cold is that it has not encouraged plants to harden off for winter, and left them vulnerable should severe frosts arrive."Model simulations indicate continued lower-than-usual hardening in western and central Europe."Winter crops in the UK, most of the Iberian Peninsula, France, and the Mediterranean region have developed practically no low temperature tolerance."Source - http://www.agrimoney.com/

23.02.2015

Kyrgyzstan - Analysis of agriculture and related processing sectors

A recent analysis of the Agriculture Ministry of Kyrgyzstan says that the spring field works in the country are conducted behind schedule, and one of the main problems is the lack of fertilizer since to obtain a good harvest, the country needs 200,000 tons of fertilizer while there are only 36,000 tons in the state reserves.Apparently there is no problem with seeds and fuel, due to a memorandum of cooperation reached by the ministry with the Association of Oil Traders of Kyrgyzstan, according to which farmers can get fuel at below market prices through the Gazprom Neft Asia network.The agricultural and processing sector provides 16% of the GDP of Kyrgyzstan and more than 30% of employment. However, the country is still heavily dependent on imports of such basic foods like flour, sugar, and vegetable oil.Due to the deterioration of agricultural machinery and poor infrastructure for the storage and transportation of crop, losses reach 30% in the sector. Only 15-18% of the grown produce is processed and the rest is exported fresh.Working capital and cooperationThe main problem of processing enterprises is the lack of working capital and the dimension of the farms. So, it is vital to increase processing and reduce food losses in the country.In 2015, Kyrgyzstan plans to increase agricultural production by 2.5%, which requires consolidating small farms and increasing their area under crops. Today the country has 381,000 farms with about two hectares of land each. It makes it difficult for each existing farm to develop profitable production or to do any processing or contribute in a sizable way to processing industries.The country agricultural development strategy and related plans for 2013-2017 is far from being reached. The strategic reforms are aimed at consolidation of farms with creation of pilot cooperatives in the regions on the basis of public-private partnerships, but even this objective has not been achieved. According to the Agriculture Ministry, 63 percent of the rural population does not want to unite into cooperatives. According to the ministry, farmers are not ready for it and they are afraid to lose their independence.Too many mistakes have been made during the years since the country’s independence in the agricultural sector, and farmers do not trust the Government. However, sooner or later, agricultural cooperatives or other forms of cooperation should be implemented. The tax issue has also been emphasized since cooperatives should pay higher national and local taxes, while independent farmers enjoy tax benefits. Effective reforms demand to improve the existing mechanisms of taxation.Loans and benefitsAfter joining the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), Kyrgyzstan will be granted a five-year grace period for import of agricultural products from the EEU member countries without paying customs duties. It is also expected that the country may receive significant investment through the Eurasian Development Bank.In 2015 it is planned to issue loans worth 6 billion soms to the agricultural sector. Terms of the loans to farmers remain the same. Last year, the project "Financing agriculture-2" issued preferential loans to farmers at 5.3 billion soms.Other sources of finance may come from a 40 million-euro soft loan allocated by Poland for the development of agriculture in Kyrgyzstan. According to the agreement signed by the governments of Kyrgyzstan and Poland, the money will be distributed in three directions. One part of the loan will be allocated for the registration and identification of cattle, the second one for the construction of a modern laboratory, and the third one for concessional loans to farmers for the purchase of agricultural machinery and fertilizer.PasturesThe total area of pastures is more than 9 million hectares in Kyrgyzstan, and up to 75 percent of this area is degraded. Proper grazing will help improve the condition of pastures, and as a result, to develop animal husbandry and increase meat and milk production and any other type of processing. The task to improve pastures has now been assigned to special committees of pasture users, which will be completely in charge of the management, improvement and rational use of land. These committees are responsible for the condition of pastures in the future five or ten years.Source - http://www.timesca.com/

23.02.2015

Australia - Callide Dam management angers farmers as cyclone flooding and damage assessments continue in Queensland

Queensland farmers from Yeppoon in Central Queensland to the Sunshine Coast are assessing the damage from ex-Tropical Cyclone Marcia.The system made landfall on Friday morning as a category five cyclone, but weakened to a category one before it reached Bileola, south-east of Gladstone,10 hours later.The cyclone is now a low pressure system moving south east, dumping heavy rain across key agricultural areas. It is expected to head out to sea just north of Brisbane.Dam management causes flooding frustrationFarmers in the Callide region, south of Rockhampton, are frustrated that water from the overflowing Callide Dam had not been released sooner.Heavy rain from ex-Tropical Cyclone Marcia forced dam gates to open on Friday night, sending water rushing towards the town of Jambin and causing the evacuation of 42 people.Residents were forced to shelter at the local state school and have this morning been flown by helicopter to the Biloela Civic Centre.Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the gates open automatically when the dam reaches 90 per cent capacity.She said some properties were flooded and the evacuation was necessary."That was a precautionary measure that was undertaken, but it was the right measure to do and everyone is safe."Beef and grain farmer Peter Wilkie was not affected by the surge of water but said he was furious about what the flooding means for other farmers in the district."The river doesn't know how to handle it [the extra water] and it has overflowed through cotton country, which is all open. It's just mind boggling," he said."The 2013 flood and this flood have just ripped Jambin and ripped Biloela apart. We've got some of the best farming country anywhere, and it's just destroyed now."There's houses in Biloela that have never been inundated with water in their lives and now there's a lot of damage in Biloela. I don't think people realise."The damage has been huge on the Biloela side of the Callide Dam, because they just let the dam open itself and it's just horrendous what it's done."Mr Wilkie said the dam operator SunWater should be held to account."They [SunWater] just let the dam do its own thing. I can't understand what happened, but when she opened she opened with revenge and jammed a heap of water down the river," he said."I don't know what we're going to do, whether there will be a civil suit against SunWater, but it's the second time they've done it."They dump how many mega litres of water they want in eight hours... but why couldn't they let a little bit out before? They knew this event was coming."It's costing us millions of dollars, this valley. It's been destroyed in the last three floods."In a statement, SunWater said the equivalent of approximately 1.8 olympic swimming pools per second (3,480 cubic metres per second) flowed through the spillway.The corporation said the rainfall that occurred upstream was unprecedented, and called it a one-in-10,000 year event.The flooding occurred because the Callide Dam gates opened automatically, which Sunwater says they are designed to do once water levels reach a certain height.Sunwater also said it was too dangerous for staff on site to release the water manually, hence the automatic release."The intensity of the rainfall was extraordinary in that it led to a rapid increase in water levels at the upstream gauging station by more than seven metres in three hours," SunWater said."This compared with Cyclone Oswald in 2013 where the increase in water levels at the upstream gauging station of around 5.5 metres occurred over a period of 18 hours."SunWater admitted the warning time was short, but said this was due to the unpredictability of the storm."SunWater followed the approved Emergency Action Plan and advised the Local Disaster Management Group as soon as it became clear that water releases were likely," the statement said.Jambin grazier Geoff Maynard said he also escaped major flooding, but said he has never seen so much water on his property."The levels that the creeks reached is the highest I've ever seen. We've got three creek systems on our property," he said."Smokey and Gerard's Creek weren't as high in the 2011 and 2013 floods as what we're seeing now."Mr Maynard said he still has not been able to access all of his property, but said for the most part he had escaped the storm largely unscathed."We're still travelling around the paddocks as we speak to determine or assess where we are, but we think we'll be ok," he said."We've lost a lot of fencing with creek crossings and along the banks of the creeks, so there will be some cattle moving around the district at the moment."Marcia trashes Yeppoon pineapple farms and cuts powerYeppoon pineapple grower Peter Sherriff said he has never experienced the ferocity of winds like those that arrived with Cyclone Marcia on Friday afternoon.Mr Sherriff said the category five storm hit around midday, shredding trees, damaging sheds and destroying pineapples on his 500 hectare farm at Tansy about 10 kilometres from Yeppoon."It was pretty horrendous, I don't want to be in it again. The winds were howling and there are just broken down fallen trees everywhere, you have just got to see it to believe," he said.Mr Sherriff said it was the wind, not the horizontal rain that did the damage."We have lost our top fertiliser shed, which has been there for 'god' knows how long, it is blown to bits," he said."We lost the top off the pump shed, we lost the pump foot-valve, which is out in the middle of the dam."We lost two diesel bowsers, all our blue bins, our rainwater tanks are down the paddock. We have to rescue them, they are about half-a-kilometre away from where they are supposed to be and the pineapples are flattened from the wind."Mr Sherriff said the wind pushed the pineapples over laying them on their side and although many are ruined, not all are lost."Not all of them, the smaller ones will recover and stand back up but a lot of the bigger ones, the stalks are broken, so they won't produce," he said.Mr Sherriff said his most immediate job will be to clean up the trees that have been strewn around the farm,"You can't drive anywhere, we have got one drive-way still blocked into the property, the other one we managed to get in one-way, there are trees everywhere," he said."The shed it too dangerous to do anything with, we have got to get in, there are fork-lifts in there and the roof is flapping all over the place.""We are mainly waiting for the power to come back on because we can't run pumps or anything like that."Mr Sherriff said while his home wasn't too badly damaged, they have no power and it is the same on neighbouring farms."Some of the other pineapple farmers have lost sheds, their diesel bowsers have been blown over too and they have no power either," he said."But the biggest problems are fuel and no power."Mary River flood concernsThe town of Gympie, two hours north of Brisbane, is expected to be cut off by floodwaters on Sunday morning, as the Mary River continues to rise.The Gympie Regional Council's Dimitri Scordalides said the Bruce Highway would be cut south of Gympie, and that the town would be cut in two."The latest BOM data is saying that the Bruce Highway will be cut and the bypass through the Mary Valley will also be cut some time on Sunday morning," she said."Our bridges to the south side will also be cut. That area will be isolated and some businesses will also be inundated."Further upstream, dairy farmers on the banks of the Mary River are already underwater following the deluge on Friday night.Kenilworth dairy farmer Matthew Trace said the Mary River was prone to flooding during heavy rain events, and farmers were prepared."Everyone on farms near the Mary River is impacted, and most roads and bridges are cut to major centres. But people here are used to it," he said."It's stopped raining here... but from what we've heard upstream there's been a lot of rain at Kenilworth and Maleny so there's a lot more water coming down."We're about to experience some sort of flooding over the next few hours, but it's just a part of life when you're farming."Mr Trace said he prepared for the rain event days in advance, and was still able to continue milking his cows."We've moved all our equipment and cattle to higher land. We don't want it to flood because it will damage fences and be a mess to clean up.""The cows are not very happy in wet muddy conditions, especially in torrential rain, but we're still milking them," he said."If the flood waters stay up too long we'll have an issue with tankers being able to pick the milk."Gayndah citrus farmer lost cropA south-east Queensland citrus farmer fears big losses after heavy rain caused floodwaters to swamp his trees and irrigation equipment for the second time in as many years.Ken Roth said his 7,000 tree mandarin crop north at Gayndah was almost completely underwater.He said he had spent about $400,000 planting trees and installing irrigation equipment."The amount of debris that's coming down the creek is going to be a huge mess to clean up again, and it depends on how much our irrigation system's destroyed by being hit with timber and wiped out."The crop is 12.5 kilometres north of Gayndah on the banks of Reid's Creek, which Mr Roth said swelled with water coming down from Mt Perry, about 70km north-east of Gayndah.One Mt Perry resident called in Wide Bay with an overnight rain figure of 143 millimetres.In the 2013 floods, the Roth family lost 6,100 trees, equating to an income loss of about $1 million.But the same tree loss this time is unlikely.Mr Roth said he expected to regain access to the farm this afternoon, and said he was unsure what lay ahead."Makes you wonder what's going on when you get two major floods in two years... it breaks your heart wondering what to do."Callers phoned in Wide Bay with their rainfall figures on Saturday morning.Overnight, Judy in Biggenden received 142mm, Colleen at Mundubbera received 104mm, and Caleb, north of Goomeri, recorded 105mm.Graziers thank Marcia for rainEx-Tropical Cyclone Marcia brought welcome rain to the north Burnett, where grazier Carolyn Kenny said they recorded 175 millimetres overnight."Great stuff, this was perfect rain for us, not a lot of wind, but the mossies are out so keep the Rid handy," she said.Others in the region report that creeks are running and dams are filling.There are reports of localised flooding in the eastern South Burnett, where some roads are closed.Closer to the coast at Biggenden, Stephanie Whittaker, from Burnett Livestock and Realty said the rain was positive for the area."Apart from minor flooding and flood fence damage it has been very welcome, it brought much needed run-off rain," she said.Source - http://www.abc.net.au/