China Facing Severe Trials

China’s bad luck is not over yet. The agriculture sector, and food security as a result, is under threat by the African swine virus, the army worm plague and now disruptions due to Covid-19-related measures. 

Several innovations and developments in the field are spelling greater production volume potential. One startup is aiming to bring eco-conscious pork meat to the market in a potential revolution for a sector often criticized for its harsh treatment of animals.

Mexico closed 2019 with strong figures on agricultural and agro-industrial exports. Meanwhile, particularly small-scale farmers are facing increasing threats from changing rain patterns and drier soil.

Mexico

The sugarcane variety COLPOSCTMEX 06-039, more resistant to charcoal rot and coffee rust, is capable of producing 106 tons/ha. In comparison, varieties Mex 69-290 and CP 72-2086, which currently make up 70 percent of Mexico’s sugarcane production, reach no more than 47 tons on average.

Based on preliminary Banxico figures, the year 2019 closed with a positive agri-food balance of US$9.09 billion dollars. Agricultural and agro-industrial exports went up 8.59 percent compared to 2018, generating a total revenue of US$37.8 billion dollars.

The National Health, Safety and Quality service (SENASICA) has launched a mobile application that provides information on symptoms of exotic diseases among animals. The tool is part of other measures the service has implemented to prevent the entry and spread of livestock disease.

SADER is estimated to have cost the public treasury up to US$585,000 due to mismanagement of resources for the 2018 Program for Innovation and Technological Development, a government audit investigation has revealed.

Stock market analysts anticipate dairy group Grupo Lala will report a 4.4 percent loss in sales volume in 4Q19 compared to the same period in 2018.  Though revenue will likely see a 3.8 percent increase, operation flow is expected to see a 21 percent contraction. Higher operating expenses are expected to further impact revenue.

Following the purchase of Agronitrogenados and Fertinal under the management of Emilio Lozoya. Pemex Fertilizantes will need to make at least US$143 million in profits over the next eight years to recover its assets, a government audit states.

Sol Ortiz, Director of the Climate Change Group at SADER, points out that approximately 75 percent of Mexico’s soil is already too dry to cultivate crops. The devastating effects of rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns are becoming more apparent in Mexico’s heartland.

China

A US Treasury official said he expects China to honor its commitment to buying more US goods, despite the impact of the COVID-19 virus.

Meanwhile, China’s Ministry of Finance has stated it will start exempting 65 US goods from retaliatory tariffs instituted during bilateral trade tensions with the US.

A vast lockdown on people and goods has disrupted operations at Chinese poultry farms and output of chicken is expected to fall. Last year, production recorded a 12 percent growth as farmers looked to compensate their pork operations hit by the African Swine Virus.

As food security becomes a greater concern, China is launching a US$200 million fund to combat fall army worms and locusts. 

The US

President Trump has ordered regulators to remove restrictions on water usage by California’s Central Valley farms. The move, part of a 2016 campaign promise, has angered environmentalists as they fear smelt, salmon and other threatened populations living in California’s mountain water reservoirs will be affected.

US farmers are expected to have a tough year as crop prices remain depressed. Unlike last year, the federal government is not expected to provide aid. This will likely lead to higher farm debts and more bankruptcies, which already jumped 24 percent last year.

Other

In another shocking verdict, a jury rules against Bayer and BASF in a crop-damage case. The companies are ordered to pay a total of US$265 million to a Missouri peach farmer who claimed farmers were told to spray a weed killer which was hard to control.

This summer Dutch start-up Meatable will unveil its animal-friendly and eco-conscious pork product made from a single pork cell. Last December, the startup already managed to raise US$10 million through seed-funding.

Several startups are working to develop contraceptive biopesticides which could stop the reproduction of certain insect species.These insect species are estimated to be responsible for a 40 percent reduction in agricultural production worldwide.