Iraq has to import most of its food needs and as food prices soar on international markets the countrys food import bill is expected to balloon to nearly $5 billion this year. Mansour Subhi, an agriculture undersecretary, said yields were better than last year as the ministry silos received 135,000 additional tons this year. Iraqi grain growers have shipped nearly 1.4 million tons of wheat and barley to state silos this year, the Ministry of Agriculture said. The bumper harvest comes amid...

Fiji is capable of reducing the amount of money used to import rice. Kumar said he is concerned at the lack of interest and initiative shown by local farmers and stakeholders in the rice industry in addressing the issue. These are the words of Interim Minister for Agriculture Jainend Kumar who made the comments in response to reports that Fiji spends a total of $21 million to import rice into the country.

According to Tetteh Homeku and Martin Khor of the Third World Network, the swift reduction of applied tariffs has resulted in a very significant increase in imports of rice, tomatoes and poultry products, which have been heavily subsidized by the governments of the countries producing them. According to Tetteh Homeku and Martin Khor of the Third World Network, the swift reduction of applied tariffs has resulted in a very significant increase in imports of rice, tomatoes and poultry...

Manila - Rising sea levels triggered by climate change pose an "ominous" threat to some of the world's most productive rice-growing areas, the International Rice Research Institute has warned. But he warned a threatened rise of between 10 and 85 centimetres in sea levels over the next century which could have "enormous" impacts on some countries, including key rice exporter Vietnam. Scientists are also confident that the resilience of rice production systems to climate extremes, such as...

Other crops and sectors could begin displaying the impact in the near future if measures are not put in place to cope with the menace that has already begun unfolding itself. Under normal circumstances, the increased concentration of carbon dioxide in atmosphere (called the greenhouse effect) is deemed beneficial for several crops, including wheat, rice, pulses and oilseeds, because it improves photosynthesis (the process of utilisation of solar energy for economic, or edible, produce) The...

MANILA (Dow Jones)--The Philippines may be forced to increase rice imports this year due to lower-than-expected paddy rice output caused by drought, senior agriculture officials said Tuesday. The volume of additional rice imports will be determined based on a production survey by the Bureau of Agriculture Statistics due for release this week, said Ludovico Jarina, deputy administrator of the National Food Authority, a state-owned grains trading firm. The volume of additional rice imports...