News items related to ag biotech, trade ? and perhaps some other interesting items out there related to agriculture ? will be posted on this page throughout the week (newly added items will be in green at bottom of sections). ?Be sure to check in regularly!
BIOTECH:
WHO warns of potential for ‘marked increase’ in Zika cases – Yahoo! News – By?Mari?tte Le Roux,?AFP?(Apr 25)
Link:?https://www.yahoo.com/news/warns-potential-marked-increase-zika-cases-083521147.html
Earth Day: Get Green With Biotech’s Role in Sustainability – Forbes.com – By Kate Hall, GMO Answers (Apr 22)
Link:?http://www.forbes.com/sites/gmoanswers/2016/04/22/gmos-contribute-sustainability/#14c154ab8b7b
Scientists advance disease resistance in three of world’s most important crops – Phys.org (Apr 25)
Link:?http://phys.org/news/2016-04-scientists-advance-disease-resistance-world.html
Did CRISPR gene-edited mushroom really ?escape? regulation? – Genetic Literacy Project – by?
Editorial: Base labeling on science, not superstition – The Detroit News (Apr 26)
“Any victories the anti-GMO movement achieves is a triumph of superstition over science.”
Insect resistant maize to be commercialized in Kenya in 2018 – Xinhua (China) (Apr 24)
Link:?http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-04/24/c_135307946.htm
Should GM crops be grown in Uganda? – Daily Monitor – By Michael J. Ssali (Apr 27)
DEFRA allows field trials of GM camelina in Rothamsted – Crop Biotech Update, ISAAA (Apr 27)
Link:?http://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=14357
Can I Get That With Extra GMO? – Wall Street Journal – Opinion by Jayson Lusk (Apr 26)
A Vermont labeling law will burden industry and encourage baseless fears about scientific progress.
Link:?http://www.wsj.com/articles/can-i-get-that-with-extra-gmo-1461710531
Scientists Claim Breakthrough in Battle Against GMO Crop Pests – Wall Street Journal – By Jacob Bunge (Apr 27)
“New technology could provide new way to tweak biotech crops like corn and cotton to boost resistance to pests”
Monsanto slams EU attempt to block GM crops in Africa as ‘neo-colonialism’?- Food Navigator -?By Annie-Rose Harrison-Dunn?(28 Apr 28)
“The European Parliament?s Committee on Development has urged G8 member states ?not to support GMO [genetically modified]?crops in Africa? as part of its critical resolution on the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition – a decision agri giant Monsanto has called anti-business and neo-colonialist.”
Link:?http://www.foodnavigator.com/Policy/Monsanto-hits-back-at-MEP-vote-on-GM-in-Africa
Ethiopia: Boosting Agricultural Productivity Through Biotechnology – allAfrica / The Ethiopian Herald (Apr 28)
Link:?http://allafrica.com/stories/201604280737.html
Grain trade alarmed by USDA biotech plans – Agri-Pulse – By Philip Brasher (Apr 27)
Link:?http://www.agri-pulse.com/Grain-trade-alarmed-by-USDA-biotech-plans-04272016.asp
OTHER TOPICS:
Japan’s Next Generation of Farmers Could Be Robots – Bloomberg – By Aya Takada (Apr 23)
Innovation, Investment Needed for Food Security: Ministers -?Bloomberg – By Aya Takada (Apr 23)
Philippines readies drones to assess disasters’ impact on agriculture?- Food Navigator Asia -?By RJ Whitehead (Apr 25)
“In a bid to stay ahead of the negative impacts of climate change and natural disasters, the Philippines government has started to use unmanned aerial drones to assess where farmlands are most at risk and quickly assess the damage they face.”
Don?t sacrifice antibiotics to boost marketing, poultry body urges?- GlobalMeatNews.com -?By Oscar Rousseau (Apr 25)
“The use of antibiotics in intensive poultry farming should not be cut but minimised and carefully planned to safeguard animal welfare, the American Association of Avian Pathologists (AAAP) has said.”
Syrian food crisis deepens as war chokes farming – Reuters – By Maha El Dahan (Apr 26)
Link:?http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-wheat-idUSKCN0XN0G0?
Manure Is Organic, Let?s Not Forget – Science – By Derek Lowe (Apr 27)
Link:?http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2016/04/27/manure-is-organic-lets-not-forget
Recovery From Drought Unlikely in Most of Southern Africa – allAfrica / New Era – By Deon Schlechter (Apr 28)
Link:?http://allafrica.com/stories/201604280985.html
First multi-year study of honey bee parasites and disease reveals troubling trends – Science Daily (Apr 26)
“Varroa mite infestations more severe than previously thought, with links to spread of viral diseases”
Link:?https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160426162601.htm
Is Science Really At The Heart Of The GMO Debate? -?Forbes.com – By Kate Hall, GMO Answers (Apr 28)
Cheap food or no pesticides: Consumers can?t have it both ways, says ECPA?- Food Navigator -?By David Burrows (Apr 28)
“The?European Crop Protection Association has said?Europeans don?t understand the harsh realities of food production or appreciate the potential magnitude of the world?s food supply problem – pesticides are important in maintaining supply and keeping prices down, it says.”
TRADE:
TTIP tops topics as Obama meets Merkel – Deutsche Welle – By Malte Rohwer-Kahlmann (Apr 25)
Link:?http://www.dw.com/en/ttip-tops-topics-as-obama-meets-merkel/av-19212462
Obama: “Time to complete TTIP” – Reuters Video (Apr 24)
Link: http://reut.rs/1TrPtZq
US officials heading to NZ to talk TPP – Radio New Zealand – By Patrick O’Meara (Apr 25)
Link:?http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/302324/us-officials-heading-to-nz-to-talk-tpp
Political headwinds blow back on global trade deals – CNBC – By John W. Schoen (Apr 25)
Link:?http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/25/political-headwinds-blow-back-on-global-trade-deals.html
Obama’s British Trade Threat – The Wall Street Journal, Review & Outlook (Apr 24)
Link:?http://www.wsj.com/articles/obamas-british-trade-threat-1461530500
TTIP: What is the future for UK-US trade? – BBC News – By Bill Wilson (Apr 24)
Link:?http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36123622
EU, India await schedule for resuming free trade talks – The Times of India – By Bharti Jain (Apr 27)
Chamber’s Donohue: TPP vote likely after the elections – The Hill – By Vickie Needham (Apr 25)
Link:?http://thehill.com/policy/finance/trade/277605-chambers-donohue-tpp-vote-likely-after-the-elections
Blockbuster Asian trade deal embraces China, rivals US-led TPP – Australian Financial Review – By Ben Potter, Fleur Anderson (Apr 26)
The regional trade deal with China and India that’s twice the size of TPP – Australian Financial Review – Opinion by Peter Drysdale (Apr 26)
The feds have made a colossal mess already of controlling the mosquitoes that transmit Zika; see http://www.hoover.org/research/us-botching-zika-fight.