Ladybirds — those tiny, spotted insects— are beloved by many, with some believing their bright colours and polka dot livery bring good luck.Now, pushing beyond the realm of luck and into agriculture, the small beetle is taking on a new role as a pest-eating assassin, thanks to new research from Murdoch University.
A heatwave in Vietnam is worsening environmental conditions in the Mekong Delta region, and farmers and gig workers have told VOA the heat is causing grueling working conditions and cutting crop yields.
Agricultural insurance could have played a key role in minimising the impact of drought on crops and livestock but penetration within the sector remains low, farmers have said.As a largely agriculture-based nation, Zimbabwe heavily depends on this sector for food production, employment generation and export earnings.
Thousands of people in Vietnam are suffering a "severe" shortage of fresh water because of drought and salinization, prompting authorities to declare a state of emergency on Saturday.
Agricultural damage caused by the El Niño phenomenon has surged to P2.63 billion, while the government has distributed P1.1 billion in assistance.In its latest bulletin, the Department of Agriculture said the weather phenomenon had affected 53,879 hectares (ha) of farmland, equivalent to 116,792 metric tons (MT) of production volume.
The climate crisis has exacerbated the impacts of what is otherwise the naturally occuring El Niño weather phenomenon (a warming of the surface of the eastern Pacific ocean) — the result being the driest conditions in the region in over four decades and widespread crop failures in countries including Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana.
Several mango orchards in Karimangalam in Dharmapuri district have been infested by hopper pests. While horticulture officials have prescribed pesticides to tackle the infestation, farmers feel that production could be affected in the upcoming season.
Extreme drought is endangering millions of people in several countries across Africa, ranging from Angola to Mozambique. Fueled by the El Nino phenomenon, the southern part of the continent has experienced dry conditions and lack of rainfall, as well as water shortages and crop losses.
With higher temperatures this winter, some local farmers are concerned about the effect it will have on their crops.Typically, once the temperature reaches mid-40s for multiple days, a plant will come out of dormancy and the bud starts to appear, according to the Michigan State University Extension.
The Department of Agriculture Regional Field Office 2 (DA-RFO2) reported that damage to agriculture caused by El Niño from February 7 to March 7 has reached P560.9 million.
To get an idea of the financial toll extreme weather is taking on this country's agriculture industry, look no further than the government of Saskatchewan's books.The Prairie province had forecast a surplus of more than $1 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, but fresh budget documents released last month show that surplus has completely evaporated, leaving Saskatchewan with an approximate $482-million deficit for the year instead.
Potato farming represents a cornerstone of global agriculture, with the humble tuber serving as a staple food source for hundreds of millions of people around the world. As one of the most widely grown and consumed crops, its agricultural significance is underscored by its ranking as the world’s fourth-largest food crop following maize, wheat, and rice.
La Nina refers to the periodic cooling of ocean surface temperatures in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific. This change in the surface temperature gradient is due to the periodic change in air mass and the shifting of the inter-tropical conversion zone (ITCZ).
A Jamaican family is on edge after a mysterious creature crept onto their property and inexplicably stripped the bark from their banana trees, but left all of the fruit untouched.
Met Éireann's farming forecast indicates that rainfall in Ireland will continue, with amounts ranging from two to four times the normal levels in the coming days. This unsettled weather pattern, characterized by showers, rain, and occasional heavy downpours, is expected to exacerbate soil conditions in agricultural fields.
In light of the prevailing drought-like situations in Telangana, it has been reported that the state government has initiated the process of enumerating crop losses. The government is keen to gather details of crop losses from the ground level, particularly as opposition parties continue to make allegations regularly.