12.01.2015

India - Farmers a worried lot as dry weather continues in Valley

The ongoing dry spell in Kashmir may decline the agricultural produce, including of apples, apricots, almonds and paddy crops.The horticulture sector in the Valley has already suffered losses worth Rs 1,000 crore during the September floods in 2014, a report by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India has said.Despite the temperatures plunging several notches below normal, the Valley is yet to receive a major snowfall this year. Gulmarg in north Kashmir witnessed a moderate snowfall on January 5.The days have become unusually warm, recording temperatures varying between 12°C and 15°C during Chillai Kalan, the 40-day harshest winter period, in the Valley.Due to the prevailing weather conditions, the farmers are worried.Experts have warned that decreased precipitation will have serious consequences on the agricultural produce, if dry weather conditions continued.“There would be decreased moisture concentration in the soil, if precipitation is less. Low moisture content in the soil will stunt the growth of fruit and paddy crops and even deteriorate their quality,” said Bashir Ahmad, member of the Kashmir Fruit Growers Association.The production of the Rabi crops is also determined by the moisture content in the soil.“Paddy requires water and with no snow and rain in the winter, there will be a decline in irrigation reserves, which will affect the crop production. Pulses, pea, wheat and oilseeds are all likely to face a decline in production, if there is not enough precipitation in winter,” said Fayaz Ahmad, an expert at the Sher-e- Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST), Kashmir.The production in the temperate fruits, including apple, apricots and almonds, also depend on the soil moisture content and hence will be affected by the dry weather conditions.Azra Kamili, environment science expert at the University of Kashmir, said unusually rising temperatures have already lead to a decline in agricultural produce over the last few years and food insecurity in the Valley.In Shopian district of south Kashmir, special congregational prayers were held by the farming community for an end to the dry spell.Source - http://www.tribuneindia.com/

09.01.2015

USA - Onion farmers concerned with incoming cold weather

One big concern with the impending cold weather in the area is for things you can't bring inside.Onion farmers across the region have about 12,000 acres of their crop just planted, and they're certainly watching the thermometer on Wednesday night.The cold weather we see over the next few days poses the biggest threat to the sweet onion crop. Cliff Riner grows onions at the UGA Experiment Station.He knows it takes extremely cold weather to hurt the young plants that are still dormant from transplant.“We're borderline at the danger zone now,” Riner said. “Historically, the problems we've had have been below 20 degrees.”He said some farmers will till up the soil between rows to throw a little extra insulation on their onions.“This kind of cold won't kill the plants, but it could provide some seed stem problems, like it has in the past,” Riner said.Farmers saw some impact last year from the winter ice storm. Growers lost a fifth of the crop. Riner said a freeze this early in the season wouldn't be as costly. The good side is that seed companies have evolved their varieties to make these onions more resilient to cold.Source - http://www.freshplaza.com/

09.01.2015

India - 21,660 farmers covered under crop insurance in Assam

Over 21,660 farmers have been covered under the Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS) in 27 districts of Assam for the 2014 Kharif season, according to a media report.The agricultural department said that crops insured include both agricultural and horticultural crops grown between June and September, 2014.The total premium amount collected was about Rs 46.82 crore between June and September, 2014. Half of the premium amount was paid by the farmers and the remaining half was given by the Central and state governments, each paying 25%.Source - http://www.indiainfoline.com/

09.01.2015

Chile - Sunburn in apples: a hot problem

Sunburn is a serious problem that affects fruits and vegetables, particularly in areas of the world where an excess of solar radiation is combined with high temperatures.Sunburn can account for losses of up to 40 percent of the apple crop at the orchard, especially with cultivars such as Fuji, Braeburn, and Cripps Pink.In Chile, growers lose about 13.5 percent of their crop to sunburn, which amounts to more than U.S.$100 million in lost exports over the past several seasons.The Pomological Center (Centro de Pomáceas) at the University of Talca has been studying the problem of sunburn in apples since 1992. The initial hypothesis that guided our research was that UV (ultraviolet) radiation was responsible for the symptoms.However, a series of field observations and numerous investigations led us to conclude that sunburn in apples, under Chilean conditions, is caused mainly by elevated temperature rather than by the influence of UV radiation.The fact that the problem has become more acute in Chile in the last 20 years could be due to three factors: the incorporation of more susceptible cultivars; increasing use of dwarfing rootstocks; and more exposed training systems, such as Solaxe. The increase in ambient temperature in recent years is another factor to be considered.Source - http://www.freshplaza.com/

09.01.2015

Heavy winter storm Israel

Heavy rains and high winds swept Israel on Tuesday night and through Wednesday as a major winter storm with hail and snow descended upon the country. The big question is what crops are affected and how badly.Oron Ziv from Befresh Europe explains that most of the Orri clementines are still on the tree. “They are protected with hail nets, but with this amount of rain and wind the fruit will be affected. It is only difficult to say how little or great. However growers need to wait 5 to 6 days before they can continue with harvesting." So there won't be a lot of packing and loading in the following week. As there is already some fruit on the way to Europe, the retailers will receive their fruit. However for the open market, there might be less product for the coming week. “Luckily the mineola harvest is almost finished and as grapefruit is a very solid product, I don’t expect a lot of problems with that item,” Oron continues.Also Sharon fruit and pomegranate has been harvested. “It is not as bad as the storm last year,” said Eitan Zvi of Galil Export. Greenhouse crops will not be damaged, as these regions were not hit that hard. “The greenhouses may have some small damages, because of the wind, but nothing severe.” For avocado Galil works with Milouot in the north. “Every kibbutz reported damage of a few tons of avocado, which is very minor.” The storm caused some avocados to fall from the tree. If the fruit is still good it will go to the local market.Ports in Haifa and Ashdod were closed for a while and this morning they are open again. This caused a slow down at the ports. There is a queue for vessels to wait for loading and they will leave a couple of days after schedule.”Source - http://www.freshplaza.com/

09.01.2015

Cyprus - Farmers to be compensated, as crops destroyed by storms

The sooner the damage from the recent storms is assessed, the quicker compensation will be paid out, Agriculture minister Nicos Kouyialis said yesterday during his tour of Famagusta district to see first-hand the extent of the damage on the crops.Kouyialis, who visited Paralimni, Sotira, Liopetri, Xylofagou and Ormideia, reassured crop farmers that the government would help and support them, especially those who have been affected by the extreme weather conditions of the last days.The Famagusta area has been hit the hardest, Kouyialis said. Around 4,000 hectares of potato crops and other hectares of crops have been destroyed or have been severely damaged. He added that several greenhouses have also been extensively damaged.“Unfortunately, the beneficial rainfall of the last days, in combination with the extreme weather conditions have created extended damage all over Cyprus,” Kouyialis said.He said that he has already given instructions to competent services of his ministry and to the Agriculture Insurance Organisation (OGA) to start recording the damage and that solutions would be found to compensate those farmers whose damage is not covered by OGA.He urged the farmers to cooperate with OGA and his ministry to record the damage as soon as possible and said that the state is constantly adopting measures for the support of the sector to counterbalance the negative effects from the economic crisis.Unfortunately, there has been significant damage in fish farming as well, Kouyialis said.He added that the Fisheries department visited Zygi and Liopetri to record the damage.“We will see what we can do and how we can help, since fish farming is not covered by any insurance,” Kouyialis said.He added that as is always the case with natural disasters, a national compensation scheme is drawn up which has first to be approved by the Cabinet and then by the European Commission.Source - http://cyprus-mail.com/

09.01.2015

India - Govt to focus on more access to irrigation, innovations for farmers

With an eye on improving farm productivity and farmers' income, the union agriculture ministry is taking steps to expand irrigation infrastructure and take success stories from the lab to land.The ministry aims to increase agriculture's contribution to GDP from the current 14 per cent.In a media interaction over dinner on Tuesday evening, Union Minister of Agriculture Radha Mohan Singh said his government has taken various steps over the past seven months to address a wide range of issues in the sector."About 60 per cent of the farmers who do not get water to irrigate fields are small and marginal farmers. We will make sure that water availability to them gets priority," he said.The Prime Minister's Krishi Sichai Yojana is under finalisation. An amount of Rs 1,000 crore has been allocated for this purpose during 2014-15. The government will involve blocks and districts to draw up region-specific irrigation schemes.Another focus area of the government is analysing the soil health of farm holdings. "A farmer should be aware of the basic characteristics of the soil in his land. This will help him to use inputs such as fertilisers in an informed and efficient manner so that productivity is improved," said Singh.The government is working towards issuing health cards to about 145 million landed farmers and an amount of Rs 568 crore has been allocated. The exercise of analysing soil health with be carried out after a gap of every three years so that soil health is improved and nutrient imbalance due to overdose of urea is addressed.The government will set up a hundred mobile soil testing labs at an investment of Rs 56 crore.Singh said that many successful innovations take place in agricultural research institutes to increase yield but they do not reach the farm due to lack of infrastructure and manpower."The government has increased the number of extension workers at block level from 18,000 to 26,000. These workers will spread awareness of the innovations among farmers through the Krishi Vigyan Kendra at district level".The Minister also said the government is in the process of finalising an insurance scheme for the farmers to protect them in events of a crop failure.Source - http://businesstoday.intoday.in/

09.01.2015

US expands disaster assistance

The USDA has expanded eligibility for crop disaster assistance to include additional aquaculture species and cultivation methods.The program, administered by the USDA Farm Service Agency, is the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program, or NAP for short."The new policy expands coverage to oyster farmers who practice bottom culture – a huge win for industry, regulators and stakeholders who have been pushing for that change for over a decade." said Tessa Getchis.Ms Getchis, an aquaculture specialist for Connecticut Sea Grant at the University of Connecticut, worked with the USDA Farm Service Agency, the East Coast Shellfish Growers Association, the State Department of Agriculture and extension colleagues from around the region to help growers make the case for the policy change. Previously, NAP only covered shellfish producers who cultivated their product in containers (e.g. bags or cages). NAP provides only a small amount of coverage for crop losses, but the improvements for aquaculture represents real progress.Before this new provision, only traditional farm crops, cultured fish and shellfish grown in containers were covered. Thus farmers growing oysters on the seafloor, for example, that were smothered in mud by Tropical Storm Irene and later Super Storm Sandy, took losses on their crops and had no way to recover their losses. The new policy changes that.The new rules also expand eligibility to rope culture operations, which will provide coverage for mussel and kelp (seaweed) culture.Source - http://www.worldfishing.net/

09.01.2015

USA - Release of 2015 crop insurance decision tool

This January release will quote corn and soybean premiums for the COMBO an ARPI products, as well as provide quotes for the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO).The 2015 Tool is used to calculate premiums for compassion to 2014 premiums.Premiums for Corn in 2014 and 2015Table 1 shows a comparison for 2014 and projected 2015 Revenue Protection (RP) premiums in three Illinois Counties: DeKalb, McLean, and Washington Counties. DeKalb County is in northern Illinois, McLean County in central Illinois, and Washington County is in southern Illinois. These per acre premiums are for corn given that 100 acres are insured using an enterprise unit. The Actual Production History (APH) and Trend-Adjusted APH (yields) are set near the average for each county. Each county's APH and TA-APH yields are shown in Table 1. The 2015 projected price is set at $4.62, the 2014 projected price. Similarly, the 2015 volatility is set at .19, the 2014 volatility. Setting these value at 2014 levels allow examination of how rate changes made by the Risk Management Agency (RMA) impacts premiums.In most cases, 2015 projected premiums are higher than 2014 premiums. At an 80% coverage level, the 2014 premium in DeKalb County is $7.14 per acre while the 2015 premium is $7.64 per acre (see Table 1), a 7% increase over the 2014 premium. At an 80% coverage level, McLean County's 2015 premium is 5% higher than the 2014 premium. Washington County's 2015 premium is 16% higher than the 2014 premium.Any number of factors could have caused the increase in premium. One factor is the inclusion of 2012 losses in the calculation of premiums. RMA uses a loss cost methodology in calculating premiums. Performance in 2012 entered into rate calculation for the first time in setting 2014 premium. Due to the drought, 2012 crop insurance losses were large, likely influencing rate determination.The 2015 premiums will vary from those shown in Table 1 because the projected price and volatility will vary from 2014 values. A lower projected price, as now seems likely, will lower premium. A higher (lower) volatility will increase (decrease) premium.SCO premiumsThe 2015 Crop Insurance Decision Tool will provide premiums for Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO). SCO is a new crop insurance product that is available in certain situations (farmdoc daily August 5, 2014).Figure 1 shows an example of SCO premiums. Note that three sets of premiums exist: one for when the underlying product is Revenue Protection (RP), one for RP with harvest price exclusion, and one for Yield Protection. For example, suppose a farmer purchases RP at an 80% coverage level and wishes to purchase SCO. One SCO product would be available providing coverage from 86% to 80%. This SCO product is indicated as "80% -- 85%" in the 2015 Crop Insurance Decision Tool and would have a cost of $7.12 per acre. More discussion of the use of SCO will be provided here in the future.SummaryThe 2015 Crop Insurance Decision Tool is now available for use. It provides premiums for corn and soybeans. A new feature is quotes for SCO. Final quotes can be made after February when 2015 projected prices and volatilities will be set.Source - http://www.agprofessional.com/

08.01.2015

Germany - 500,000 € Damage: Eight greenhouses burned in Wiesmoor

In Wiesmoor eight contiguous greenhouses from a 10,000 square meter production area was burned down. Highly flammable shading film gave plenty of burning material for the flames. The fire fighters were there until the early hours of the morning, the damage is estimated at half a million Euro.About 70 task forces prevented the flames from travelling over to another 70,000 square feet of production space. According to information from the police of Aurich it is still unclear what caused the fire.Flammable shading film took care of the rapid spread. The material melted due to the high temperatures and dripped on the floor. In doing so the interior including pallets, crates and trolleys with labour and packaging materials caught fire. For fire fighters it was difficult to access because of the burning and dripping plastic and the high amount of dangerously cracked glass due to the heat.Source - http://www.freshplaza.com/

08.01.2015

USA - Snow hits California avocados

A snowstorm that hit Southern California on New Year’s Eve dumped up to 6 inches on parts of Riverside County and caused damages to avocado orchards that the industry is still assessing.“Just when we thought we’d seen everything, it snowed in Temecula,” said Tom Bellamore, president of the California Avocado Commission.About half of an estimated 330-million pound crop is expected from the state’s southern growing regions of Riverside and San Diego counties. To the north, Ventura County got some low temperatures Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 but fruit loss was expected to be minimal.“In the areas around Temecula that got a heavy or wet snow, broken tree branches were a problem but there was less of an issue with freeze,” Bellamore said. “Others got lighter snow but the temperatures dipped more, so trees were perhaps more endangered. Some orchards were hit pretty hard by downed branches on every tree, but others had more of a frost problem that will manifest itself over time.”What the losses in the south might amount to was still unclear.“When the weather warms up, stems may turn brown and that’s a sign trees will shed fruit,” Bellamore said. “Some people say the heavy, wet snow was actually an insulator around the fruit. Even though it took branches down, the fruit on the tree may still be harvestable. There isn’t necessarily freeze damage.”“We’re still taking stock and should have a better handle on it a week from now,” he said Jan. 6. “There’s probably a fair amount of tree damage in Temecula, but fruit loss I’m not sure of.”Source - http://www.thepacker.com/

08.01.2015

India - Crop insurance schemes for farmers in Kerala

The weather-based crop insurance scheme (WBCIS) and the modified national agriculture insurance scheme (MNAIS), the two components of the National Crop Insurance Programme of the Union government, are being extended to farmers in the State for the ongoing crop season. Paddy, plantain, cashew, sugarcane, mango, and tapioca are covered under the scheme.Particulars of the applicability of the scheme for crops in various districts have been specified by the State Level Coordination Committee on Crop Insurances. Agricultural Insurance Company of India Ltd., a Union government enterprise, will be the implementing agency. While farmers who have taken agriculture loans from banks and approved financial institutions are covered under the scheme, for other ryots it is voluntary.The scheme is being implemented jointly by the Union and the State governments.Weather-basedParameters have been stipulated for the weather-based insurance and data are collected with the help of nearly 130 weather stations across the State, D. Rajesh, head of the State-level regional office of the agricultural insurance company, told The Hindu . Four or five panchayats come under each weather station for the implementation of the scheme. While the WBCIS scheme is segregated for crops under kharif and rabi seasons, it is applicable to some crops such as cashew in Kerala on an extended time frame. For instance, the December-May period is taken into account for cashew, he said.Yield the criterionUnder the MNAIS scheme, the yield of the particular crop, as decided by the authorities, is the criterion and all the farmers insured under the scheme will be eligible for compensation if the yield falls below the stipulated limit. The second paddy crop is brought under the WBCIS scheme in districts other than Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, and Kottayam, where the MNAIS scheme will be applicable.Under the WBCIS scheme, Rs.10,000 will be the insured amount for an acre and the insurance premium is Rs.200. The insurance amount for plantain for an acre is Rs.40,000 and the premium is Rs.2,200, and the scheme will be applicable in districts other than Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, and Kottayam.For cashew and sugarcane, the insurance coverage for an acre will be Rs.20,000 and Rs.12,000, respectively, while the premium will be Rs.1,100 and Rs.660, respectively. The scheme for cashew will be applicable in Palakkad, Kozhikode, Kannur, Kasaragod, and Malappuram districts.The scheme for sugarcane is applicable in Idukki and Palakkad. For tapioca, covered under the MNAIS, the insurance amount for an acre is Rs.97,309.The scheme is applicable in all the districts.Source - http://www.thehindu.com/

08.01.2015

Uganda - Virus-resistant banana developed

Banana bacterial wilt, a disease caused by Xanthomonas bacteria, is so devastating to banana and extremely burdensome and costly to a farmer. It attacks the banana plant turning its sap into “pus” that oozes out when cut.In extreme cases, the plant wilts before fruiting and incase it gets to fruit, it ripens before it matures for a farmer to reap from sweat. It was first recorded in Uganda in 2001 but been in Ethiopia in the 1960’s. This wilt attacks all cultivars of banana from the beloved Matooke to the sweet types causing up to $2.2b estimated annual loss.Dr. Leena Tirupathi, one of the scientists that have been researching on Banana bacterial wilt in her article in the New Vision, on whether biotechnology can save Uganda’s banana crop pointed out the need to have the solutions to the wilt before it destabilises the food security in the region. She confirmed having banana lines which are 100 percent resistant in three cycles, implying suckers from suckers were 100 percent resistant.The next step she said is carrying out multi-locational trials before the resistant banana can be availed to farmers. As she correctly stated, without the law, some of these final steps may not be realized and that would mean farmers will continue to buy JIK detergent to disinfect their pruning knives after every plant reducing on their profits and government will continue to spend more money in managing the disease instead of investing that money in Agricultural Research.Source - http://www.freshplaza.com/

08.01.2015

USA - Arctic blast likely to cause damage in Midwest wheat belt

Arctic air pushing into the nation's Midwest wheat belt later this week is expected to cause some winterkill damage to wheat fields.About a third of the nation's wheat belt will likely be affected, according to agricultural meteorologist Don Keeney of MDA Weather Services.Wheat fields in areas without a protective covering of snow when the subzero temperatures hit are the most vulnerable. Crop damage is anticipated in eastern Nebraska, southwestern Iowa, northern and eastern Missouri, south-central Illinois, southern Indiana and southern Ohio, according to Gaithersburg, Maryland-based MDA, which provides agricultural weather data for commodities trading and other industries."Kansas should be pretty much spared," Keeney said, adding that just two counties in far northwestern Kansas may be affected.Frigid temperatures are expected to return for the weekend, with additional minor damage possible in the south-central Midwest on Saturday morning, the company said.The Agriculture Department's National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Monday that 49 percent of Kansas wheat is now in good to excellent condition. The agency rated 42 percent of the state's wheat crop in fair shape, with 9 percent in poor to very poor condition.Kansas farmers are headed into this winter in far better shape than a year ago.In its latest snapshot, NASS also reported that hay and roughage supplies are at adequate to surplus levels across 90 percent of the state. Stock water supplies also were reported to be adequate in 71 percent of Kansas. Topsoil moisture conditions were adequate in 62 percent of the state.Source - http://www.thekansan.com/

08.01.2015

USA - State braces for another year of drought

New Mexico is staring down the fifth consecutive year of drought, with the first runoff forecast of the year pointing to yet another year of low flows on the Rio Grande.Water managers cautioned that it is still early, with months left for mountain snows to catch up.“There’s a lot of winter yet to come,” said David Gensler, water manager for the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District.The forecast is based in large part on the amount of snow that has fallen in the mountains of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado to date. That snow, when it melts, provides the river runoff used in the Rio Grande Valley over the spring and summer.With a bad snowpack so far, even a wet spring may not be enough to forestall the fifth consecutive year of below-average runoff on the Rio Grande, according to forecaster Angus Goodbody with the National Water and Climate Center in Portland, Ore.The early forecast also is bad for the southern Colorado mountains that supply water to the San Juan-Chama Project, which provides water for Albuquerque. The city has groundwater to fall back on, so low river flows don’t pose immediate water supply concerns. It is farming that suffers when the rivers are low.This year’s preliminary forecast could be especially bad news for farmers in southern New Mexico. Elephant Butte Reservoir, their key water source, is currently at just 13 percent of capacity, less than last year at this time. And this year’s January forecast is worse than last year’s, noted University of New Mexico climatologist Dave Gutzler.Southern New Mexico farmers have made up for Rio Grande shortfalls in recent years with groundwater, but with water tables dropping, it is unclear now long that can continue, said Mesilla Valley pecan farmer Greg Daviet. “That is the million-dollar question,” he said Tuesday. “How long can we keep pumping groundwater?”The key to surviving another bad water year, Daviet said, is for water users to find ways to share scarce supplies, rather than fighting over scraps.“Droughts end before litigation resolves,” Daviet said. “I believe it will be wet again.”Area farmers already are experimenting with creative approaches to dealing with shortfalls, for example leasing land used to grow cotton and other less lucrative crops and leaving it fallow, using the saved water to keep high-value pecan crops going.Pecans are the biggest crop by acreage in Doña Ana County, which is the largest pecan-producing county in the United States, according to the most recent U.S. Census of Agriculture.The last time Elephant Butte was close to full was 1998. Since then, it has dropped steadily as downstream water use outstripped inflows from snowpack year after year.The problem, since the late 1990s, has been a general lack of snow and warmer temperatures, which have reduced the amount of water that eventually makes it to the region’s rivers.Things have been especially bad the last four years because of warm, dry springs, Gutzler said. That has led to both early snowmelt and more loss of snow to dry spring winds, water that never even has a chance to make it to the Rio Grande.If there is a hopeful sign, it is that we still have a chance of a shift to El Niño, the Pacific Ocean climate pattern that helps guide our winter and spring storm track. It has been looming for months but has not quite had the oomph to influence our weather.“There is plenty of room for improvement if El Niño kicks in,” Gutzler said.Source - http://www.abqjournal.com/

06.01.2015

Australia - 2015 banana production faces water issues

Carnarvon banana growers experienced the first taste of heat damage for this summer during high temperatures across the region last weekend. Temperatures hovered above 40 degrees Celsius for three days, causing sunburn damage in some crops.The string of high temperatures was the first severe summer blow for growers following mild spring conditions.Carnarvon banana grower, Bruce Munro, said that as growers wrap up 2014 and look to the new year, heat and production issues will be exacerbated by limited access to water.Mr Munro said an ongoing water shortage has made crops more vulnerable to problems like sunburn damage and yield reduction."It's always difficult, we've had to cut back on our area and make sure we can water what we've got," he said.Mr Munro said not only is water in limited supply, but the water available is highly saline, which is not good for banana crops."Bananas don't like anything much above 600 parts per million," he said. "[But] my bore's up over 700."Mr Munro said the Department of Agriculture and Food is working on a drilling program to increase water supply out of the bore field.But he said the thing that growers need most is a decent river flow.Source - http://www.freshplaza.com/