World News Weekly neWs Wrap
‘Feeding 10 billion people
will require GM food’
Poor 2018/2019 citrus
season for Spain
In Brief
ABOVE:
Genetically
modified food
crops will be
necessary to feed
the world’s fast-
growing population.
FW ArchiveGenetic modification will
become an important tool in
feeding the world’s growing
population, which is expected to
reach 10 billion people by 2050.
Rising global temperatures
and scarcer water supplies will
necessitate a dramatic change
in the way food is produced,
and increased investment in
technologies such as genetic
engineering will play a vital
role in this regard, according
to a report by the World
Resources Institute in the US.
Crops must become not
only more productive, but also
more resilient, due to the
challenges of climate change
such as disease, pests,
droughts and floods.
“We have to increase
yields dramatically at an
even higher rate than we’ve
done historically,” said
Tim Searchinger, the lead
author of the report.
“Fertiliser use has largely
been maxed out, and available
water is running dry. Now
researchers need to find new
ways to grow [crops] smarter,
including through the use of
genetic modification,” he said.
The report outlined a “menu
for a sustainable food future”
that explored ways to reduce
demand, increase production,
restore forests and wetlands,
increase the fish supply, and
reduce greenhouse gas emissions
from agriculture. – Staff reporterThe 2018/2019 citrus season in the
Spanish region of Valencia has
been one of the worst in recent
years. This was according to a
report published by La UNIÓ
de Llauradors, a farmers’ union
in Valencia, which indicated a
32% drop in profits from the
previous season. The report
showed that income had fallen
€151 million (about R2,4 billion)
or 40% in the case of oranges;
€114 million (R1,8 billion) or 30%
for mandarins; and €13 million
(R203 million) or 12% for lemons.
While €874 million
(R13,7 billion) was generated
from the sale of citrus fruit
in 2017/2018, the total income
this season dropped to just
€595 million (R9,3 billion).
In addition, almost 700 000t
of the total production of
just over four million tons
could not be marketed, as a
result of the damage caused
by torrential rain and market
saturation due to imports.
This season, the lack of rainfall
and high summer temperatures
led to the production of smaller-
sized fruit and a delay of two
weeks in the start of the harvest
of the earliest varieties.
Autumn rain has also caused
great losses in some regions,
both direct and in quality, the
report stated. – Staff reporterReunion island
The causal agent of black
sigatoka (Pseudocercospora
fijiensis), a disease prevalent
in bananas, has been reported
on Reunion Island. It is
considered a major economic
threat to bananas cultivated
for export worldwide.
The disease has a widespread
distribution throughout the
tropical regions, and was
previously reported in the
south-west Indian Ocean region.BulgaRia
According to Bulgaria’s
Agriculture, Food and
Forestry Minister, Dessislava
Taneva, the number of organic
farmers in Bulgaria increased
20-fold between 2008 and- There were now 6 600
organic farmers, and the area
under biological cultivation
increased from 26 000ha in
2011 to 162 000ha this year.
Speaking at the Tsurnogorski
Fair in south-western Bulgaria,
Taneva said control systems
for organic produce needed
to be improved to ensure that
consumers had confidence in
these products on supermarket
shelves. –Staff reporter
ZimBaBwe
Two Zimbabwean citizens have
approached the High Court
in Harare to challenge the
legality of a recent government
ban on private maize sales.
Grain miller Allan
Markham and pig farmer
Clever Rambanapasi were
seeking to have a recent
statutory instrument issued
by Minister of Agriculture
Perrance Shiri, proscribing
private maize trade, set aside.
According to the regulations,
maize needed to be sold to
the government-run Grain
Marketing Board at a fixed
price of Z$1 400/t (about
R53,88/t). – Thulani Mpofu2 August 2019 farmer’sweekly 17