Rice

Searing heat has devastated wheat fields across northern Europe while a combination of dry conditions and extreme rain in the Black Sea have hit output estimates, with prices soaring on fears of further crop damage.

In this Tuesday, June 26, 2018 photo, a farmer walks through his dry field were designated for growing rice in Mishkhab town south of Najaf. AP Photo/Anmar Khalil

Russian grain is flowing around the world in a way not seen since the last years of the Tsarist empire a century ago but the country’s export expansion looks set to hit a wall because of a lack of infrastructure.

Serbia's damage to grains is estimated at EUR 600 million, Serbian Grain Association leader Vukoslav Savkovic told the Serbian National Television.

The first human insect products will be available for sale in Swiss supermarkets next week, AFP reported.

Those who wish will taste burgers and meatballs of flour worms with rice, vegetables and spices, they will be sold in the Coop stores.

Heavy rain and flood that hit the southern province of Mersin in the last days of 2016 have put hectares of agricultural greenhouses under water, triggering price hike expectations in fresh vegetables. 

Nigeria has confiscated 2.5 tonnes of “plastic rice” smuggled into the country by unscrupulous businessmen, the customs service says.

Lagos customs chief Haruna Mamudu said the fake rice was intended to be sold in markets during the festive season.

He said the rice was very sticky after it was boiled and “only God knows what would have happened” if people ate it.

Russian grain exports are expected to remain high in March after record supplies in January and February due to the weakening of the ruble, SovEcon agriculture consultancy said in a note. 

Bulgaria to export over 2 million tonnes of wheat in 2014, despite the lower yields compared to 2013, according to Ignat Angelov, Chair of the Union of Agricultural Cooperatives "Danube 2000."

In a Sunday interview for Radio Focus - Veliko Tarnovo, Angelov argued that the decrease by 10-15% in the yield in the 2013-2014 agricultural year would not have a negative impact on exports.

Wheat prices for this year’s crop will be five to 10 percent lower compared to 2013, the Chief Executive Director of the Sofia Commodity Exchange (SCE) Vasil Simov said.