Food and Agribusiness Talking Points | 17/08/18

In today’s talking points Wattle wins Chinese approval to sell baby food, Chinese scientists find key gene to save fertilizer for crops, Food security: Fall Armyworm spreads to Asia, Drought delivers bumper profits for West Australian farmers

 

Wattle wins Chinese approval to sell baby food

Chinese approval for the milk powder was announced last month. The next day WHA said Corio Bay Dairy Group — a joint venture it had with Organic Dairy Farmers of Australia and Niche Dairy — had bought land in Geelong to build a dedicated plant for a spray dryer for organic milk powder production.

In a statement to the ASX today, WHA said approval for the general trade in China of its 100-per-cent Australian natural Baby Food Range further increases its brand awareness in the “highly lucrative Chinese market and (would) generate additional sales across WHA’s extensive distribution network in China”.

WHA shares opened at $1.47 in Australia this morning, they hit $1.51 and were at $1.42 at 11.30am.

Source: Weekly Times

 

Chinese scientists find key gene to save fertilizer for crops

Chinese scientists have found that by increasing a key gene in crops made the crops more efficient in using nitrogen.

Efficient utilisation of nitrogen means that the use of nitrogen fertilizer can be reduced.

Crops such as rice and wheat require nitrogen fertilizer to increase crop yield, however negative offsets like soil acidification and greenhouse gas emissions are also a result.

This research contributes to finding more strategies of sustainable agriculture.

Source: Xin Hua

 

Food security: Fall Armyworm spreads to Asia
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned that the pest, Fall Armyworm, could devastate crop farms and the livelihoods of millions of small-scale farmers in Asia.  This insect is native to the Americas, but was first detected in Nigeria in 2016, and has since spread across most of Sub-saharan Africa.
The Fall armyworm can travel up to 100km through the night, and has set its sights onto Asia, with south China and southeast Asia most at risk.
The UN agency has helped African nations manage and mitigate this threat, and believe that the projects implemented in Africa can also be applied in Asia, to help protect crops such as maize, rice and cotton.
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Source: Web India

 

Drought delivers bumper profits for West Australian farmers

Although the parched Australian east coast farmers are suffering through a terrible drought, West Australian wheat farmers are experiencing a combination of plentiful rain, high prices and extra demand, which could generate almost a $1 million average income for each of the state’s wheat farms. Poor production of crops and animals in drought-hit areas is good for competing farmers elsewhere, as already-high prices are pushed up by a lack of supply.

Overall, the agricultural sector is in good health, with the NAB Rural Commodities Index not far below records set in 2016 and 2017, with growth in June and July, as well as rural property prices continue to be stable despite the drought.

Source: Financial Review