Latest Agriculture News
Swine fever sweeps Italy's north, threatening production of prized prosciutto and livelihoods
CORTELEONA E GENZONE, Italy (AP) — One of Giovanni Airoli’s sows tested positive for African swine fever in late August. Within a week, all 6,200 sows, piglets and fattening pigs on his farm south of Milan were slaughtered under strict protocols to halt the disease threatening Italy’s 20...
In India, warming climate pressures scientists to keep developing tougher seeds
BENGALURU, India (AP) — Unpredictable rains and increasing heat aren't just making life more difficult for the people of Rayanpet, a village in India's arid south. They're also taking a toll on the thousands of acres of rice grown here. “We used to know when it would rain and for...
Harvesting hops for beer produces a lot of waste. These German groups are seeking to fix that
MUNICH (AP) — Two students in Munich, sipping beers on their dormitory couch in 2022, chatted about a recent lecture describing the use of banana fibers in Colombia to make sustainable building materials. Wouldn't it be great, the Technical University of Munich students joked, to...
Takeaways from AP's report on how shrimp farmers are exploited as supermarkets push for low prices
BANGKOK (AP) — A new investigation focused on three of the world’s largest producers of shrimp released on Monday claims that as big Western supermarkets make windfall profits, their aggressive pursuit of ever-lower wholesale prices is causing misery for people at the bottom end of the supply...
Money Gambians send home from Europe is a lifeline for their families but the sacrifices take a toll
KWINELLA, Gambia (AP) — Binta Bah met her husband last year on a dating app and instantly fell in love. They spent hours every day glued to their mobile phones and soon got married on a video call. But they've met in person only once, when Suleyman Bah came home to Gambia for a...
Brewing a cold beer on a warming planet is hard. Germany uses education to fight climate change
MUNICH (AP) — The keys to combating the climate change that's wreaking havoc on Germany's beer industry could lie inside a plant nursery — nicknamed "our kindergarten" — at the Society of Hop Research north of Munich. The 7,000 seedlings there are a mix of new varieties that...
South Korea sets a compensation plan for dog meat farmers before the 2027 ban
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea announced plans Thursday to compensate farmers and others in the country's dwindling dog meat industry before a formal ban goes into effect in 2027, a move that is drawing opposition from both farmers and some animal rights activists. South...
Cambodia hopes a new canal will boost trade. But it risks harming the Mekong that feeds millions
PREK TAKEO, Cambodia (AP) — The Mekong River is a lifeline for millions in the six countries it traverses on its way from its headwaters to the sea, sustaining the world’s largest inland fishery and abundant rice paddies on Vietnam's Mekong Delta. Cambodia's plan to build a...
US to hand over pest inspections of Mexican avocados to Mexico and California growers aren't happy
MEXICO CITY (AP) — California avocado growers are fuming this week about a U.S. decision to hand over pest inspections of Mexican orchards to the Mexican government. Inspectors hired by the U.S. Department of Agriculture have been guarding against imports of avocados infected with...
‘Short corn’ could replace the towering cornfields steamrolled by a changing climate
WYOMING, Iowa (AP) — Taking a late-summer country drive in the Midwest means venturing into the corn zone, snaking between 12-foot-tall green, leafy walls that seem to block out nearly everything other than the sun and an occasional water tower. The skyscraper-like corn is a part...
