Crops

In a sign of the changing climate's impact on agriculture, Bulgarian farmers are gearing up for an early start to the wheat and barley harvest this year as soaring temperatures hasten crop ripening.

Greek consumers often pay nearly three times the price for fruits or vegetables that producers receive when the produce is harvested from the fields. However, the bulk of this price difference doesn't make its way into the pockets of the producers. In reality, producers only retain a profit equivalent to roughly 8 to 9 percent of the final consumer price.

In the last 12 months, the cost of running Jean-Marie Dirat's lamb farm in southwest France has jumped by 35,000 euros ($38,000), driven up by increasingly expensive fertilisers, fuel, electricity and pesticides.

Money is so tight that this year he won't pay himself. To his surprise, he even calculated he would be eligible for the minimum welfare benefit, given to society's poorest.

Bulgarian Agriculture Minister Kiril Vatev engaged in an online discussion with Ukrainian counterpart Mykola Solsky, focusing on violations in the export licensing system for key crops like sunflower, rapeseed, maize, and wheat. Vatev highlighted concerns over attempts to bypass licensing requirements through specific imports, vowing that corrective action is necessary.

Importers of coffee to the European Union are starting to scale back purchases from small farmers in Africa and beyond as they prepare for a landmark EU law that will ban the sale of goods linked to the destruction of forests, a cause of climate change.

Experts say that the burning of crop residues at the beginning of the wheat planting season is the main cause of pollution.
Lahore was once known as the city of gardens, but rapid urbanization and rapid population growth have left little space for greenery in the city.

Prolonged drought is having an increasingly negative impact on agricultural production in Türkiye, with dry days increasing and the soil becoming increasingly dry.

The National Grain Council (UHT) has revised its wheat production estimate for 2023 from a previous 20.75 million tons to 21.5 million tons amid better-than-expected precipitation.

After a dry winter, precipitation was strong in many regions in the months of March, April and May, the council said in a report.

Mexico on June 24 began imposing a 50 percent tariff on white corn imports, a move the president says looks to boost national production and prevent imports of genetically modified corn.

Tremor-induced damages at the Kartalkaya Dam in the country's quake-hit southern region have intensified the struggle of farmers, compounding their already challenging circumstances.