The fact that China is buying American-grown rice signals a slight thaw in relations in the trade war that has hit agriculture hard in the American heartland. If tariffs can be eliminated on other agricultural crops, that’s good news for horticulture too. 

Canada’s CKF Inc. is in the running for Fruit Logistica’s 2019 Innovation Award. Its top-sealable compostable, recyclable strawberry punnet is a strong contender.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (F.A.O.) of the United Nations estimates that up to 40 per cent of global food crops, worth USD 220 billion in trade of agricultural products, is lost annually due to plant pests. The campaign for plant health rounds out a decade of attention to biodiversity. 

Tariffs applied against the U.S. by Mexico, China and India are slowing apple exports, and there’s no end in sight.  That means challenges and opportunities for Canadian growers.

New awards highlighted how fast technologies are changing the face of the European apple industry at this year’s 2018 Interpoma in Bolzano, Italy.  

The centre’s facilities and technologies are expected to speed breeding of new varieties of cucumbers up to 25 per cent faster, and reduce gas consumption by up to 48 per cent in Nunhem, the Netherlands.

New legislators in the Democrat-led U.S. House of Representatives may not be quick to sign the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. 

Quality of irrigation water matters. In the case of E. coli-contaminated romaine lettuce grown in Arizona last spring, regulators speculate that irrigation canal water used to dilute crop protection products might have contributed to the disaster.