Vanguard - Business : Cocoa: increase in area planted attributed to NCDC. These could be attributed to the setting up of the National Cocoa Development Committee (NCDC), made up of the 14 cocoa producing states in the country, which have been distributing new high yield cocoa seedlings to cocoa farmers along with the purchase of chemicals and input at 50% subsidy. These could be attributed to the setting up of the National Cocoa Development Committee (NCDC), made up of the 14 cocoa...

Almost a year after Russia announced a ban on Georgian wine, citing safety concerns, an unexpected development has taken place within the Russian drinks manufacturing industry. The company says their new product, which will not be labelled as wine, will be marketed at the youth audience in the way so-called 'alcopops' are in the west. The company plan to open a factory in the Moscow region, but, in an effort to preserve the brand image Georgian wine still enjoys in Russia, they plan to use...

So both children and cocoa farmers could enjoy and benefit from making an ethical choice. Buying a Fairtrade product like chocolate, which has been designed by kids for kids with Fairtrade principles in mind, means you get a tasty treat too. Buying products that give a fairer deal to farmers has been highlighted by the likes of Bono and Coldplay's Chris Martin; their involvement has helped the message of buying without exploitation filter down to younger people too. Today's most viewed...

It s tough for small dairy farmers to make a go of it today, as evidenced by the recent news that the Chiapetti Dairy west of Petaluma had filed for bankruptcy protection after amassing $1. With costs at historic highs and milk prices at all-time lows, these small local dairymen are facing the difficult choice of trying to hang on in the conventional milk industry, convert to potentially more lucrative organic production or simply go out of business. These farms have huge economies of...

Kwasi Krah Fuseni, Spokesperson for the farmers, said at 12 noon on March 21, a group of people numbering about 200, some of who were wearing army and police uniforms with AK 47 rifles, invaded Camp Two in the Tongya forest reserve and started cutting down their cocoa trees. Kwasi Krah Fuseni, Spokesperson for the farmers, said at 12 noon on March 21, a group of people numbering about 200, some of who were wearing army and police uniforms with AK 47 rifles, invaded Camp Two in the Tongya...

Thanks to the boom in the construction industry, farm labourers are shifting towards construction where they are being paid Rs 300 a day as against Rs 100 a day in a grape garden. While land acquisition is one of the factors for reduced production, farmers interest for growing grapes is slowly diminishing, he says. Though these are good signs from the farmer s income point of view, efforts do go in vain when the grape gardens are full of berries with no takers, agrees another grower....