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Global/Regional News
The European Parliament reached a historic milestone by endorsing New Genomic Techniques (NGTs), sending a powerful global signal that science-based innovation is essential for addressing climate change and strengthening food security. Read more…
Decision time for the future of farming in Australia
Australian agriculture is facing important decisions that will shape its productivity, profitability and sustainability towards 2050, according to a new discussion paper released today by CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, and the Australian Farm Institute. Read more…
Agriculture production set to ease amid drier outlook
Following a record year in 2025-26, ABARES is forecasting the value of agricultural production to fall by 5% to $98.3 billion in 2026-27, ($104.5 billion when fisheries and forestry are included). Read more…
Australian farmers in trade dispute over pineapple import plan
Australian farmers fear that a move to allow Indian and Indonesian pineapples into the country could devastate the local industry by opening the door to invasive insect species. Read more…
FAO celebrates 50 years of partnership with Bangladesh, launches five new projects
Initiatives aim to strengthen climate resilience, food safety, fisheries management and agricultural competitiveness as Bangladesh and FAO renew their long-standing partnership. Read more…
Regionalising farming for climate resilience
Although improved crop varieties, mechanisation, irrigation and high-value crops have expanded across much of the country, important gaps remain. Read more…
Demand to ban highly hazardous pesticides for environmental protection
Farmers, environmental activists, youth representatives, researchers, members of civil society and representatives of various social and cultural organizations participated in the human chain. Read more…
China Publishes New Five-Year Plan to Boost Agriculture and Rural Development
On the global stage, the plan seeks to diversify agricultural imports and cultivate internationally competitive domestic enterprises. Read more…
China extends zero-tariff treatment to 63 countries
China has now granted zero-tariff policies for 63 countries, a customs official said, as the country moves to further expand high-standard opening up. Read more…
Xinjiang deploys 108-arm robot for cotton topping, slashes labor costs
It has 108 mechanical arms, rolls through cotton fields like a slow-moving tank, and performs more than 300,000 snips an hour. It is not some new weapon from a superhero movie, but a real robot built to do one of farming’s most tedious jobs: cotton topping. Read more…
China approves market access to imported jackfruit from Laos, deepening agricultural cooperation
China has approved imports of fresh jackfruit from Laos that meet phytosanitary requirements, creating a new channel for agricultural trade between the two neighboring countries. Read more…
ICAR Unveils Roadmap for Climate-Smart Agriculture
ICAR has outlined an innovation led roadmap for Indian agriculture, focusing on climate resilience, digital technology adoption and expanding scientific solutions to millions of farmers. Read more…
NITI Aayog’s AgriBio 2.0: How biotechnology and climate-resilient crops will transform Indian agriculture
AgriBio 2.0 marks India’s next agricultural transformation by combining biotechnology with self-reliance. Read more…
India’s rice fields now rank among world’s top methane hotspots
Irrigated paddy fields in India release around 3.9 million tonnes of methane every year, a little more than the entire annual methane emissions of Germany. Read more…
India seed ecosystem summit 2026: Innovation, climate tech and global ties take centre stage
At a 24-nation summit in New Delhi, India’s top agricultural minds drew a clear line: the country’s seed sector cannot grow on policy goodwill alone. Biotech adoption, harmonised global regulations, and climate-resilient breeding are the non-negotiables — and the gap between lab and farm remains the biggest obstacle standing between India and genuine seed-trade leadership. Read more…
India Strengthens Fertiliser Supply Chain Against Global Risks
Government diversifies import sources, boosts domestic production and secures long-term supply deals to shield agriculture from global disruptions. Read more…
Indonesia achieves self-sufficiency in eight food commodities
Indonesia has achieved self-sufficiency in eight key food commodities, supported by record-breaking national rice reserves and historic improvements in agricultural welfare, President Prabowo Subianto said. Read more…
Indonesia leverages surplus, global prices to pursue rice exports
Indonesia aims to seize rice export opportunities by riding on rising global prices, surplus production, and domestic market stability, according to Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman. Read more…
Indonesia boosts corn output with new high-yield seed
Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman has called for increased Indonesian corn production by using high-yield seed varieties. Read more…
Indonesia develops drought-resistant forage to counter El Nino
Indonesia’s Ministry of Agriculture said it is expanding the cultivation of drought-resistant, high-protein forage crops to secure livestock feed amid El Nino-induced pasture shortages. Read more…
Japan Enacts Bill to Prevent Unauthorized Crop Sales Overseas
Japan’s parliament on Friday enacted a bill to prevent the unauthorized sales of domestically developed agricultural products overseas. Read more…
Japan sees record low consumption of domestic rice following shortages
This was largely due to an increase in rice imports as the price of domestically produced rice jumped in the wake of severe shortages in summer 2024 and later. Read more…
Laos Agricultural, Forestry Exports Top USD 1 Billion in First Half of 2026
Laos earned more than USD 1 billion from agriculture and forestry exports in the first half of 2026, reaching about 53 percent of the government’s full-year target of USD 1.9 billion, according to official figures. Read more…
Laos’ agriculture ministry boosts exports, targets 4.1 percent growth
The agriculture and environment sector has already made notable progress during the first six months of this year, particularly in boosting exports, generating rural employment, and supporting macroeconomic stability, Dr Linkham said. Read more…
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in Malaysia is focusing on increasing the production of agri-food commodities with low Self-Sufficiency Ratio (SSR) levels to reduce reliance on imports. Read more…
Malaysia moves to strengthen rice reserves to bolster food security
Malaysia’s overall rice supply remains at a healthy level, with total trading stocks standing at 1.249 million metric tonnes as of July 14, including a 200,000 metric tonne stockpile capable of meeting national demand for 6.2 months. Read more…
Policy delays cost agriculture billions: OICCI
A report titled ‘Seeds of Growth’ released by the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI), said that regulatory delays and inconsistent policy rather than a lack of technology or investment are the main reasons Pakistan’s agricultural output continues to trail regional competitors… Read more…
Pakistan, Canada Sign Protocol on Import of Canola
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand have signed the Protocol on the Phytosanitary Import Requirements for Genetically Modified Canola Intended for Food, Feed and Processing from Canada to Pakistan. Read more…
Aurangzeb chairs maiden meeting of PM’s committee reviewing GM maize commercialization
Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb on Thursday chaired the inaugural meeting of the Prime Minister’s Committee on Genetically Modified (GM) Corn, directing members to undertake an objective, science-based and evidence-driven review of Pakistan’s policy on the commercialization of genetically modified maize. Read more…
China, Pakistan institutions join hands to advance agricultural standards, food quality
Pakistan’s University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) and the Chengdu Institute of Standardization signed a letter of intent (LOI) last week to strengthen cooperation in agricultural standardization, food quality, research, and talent development. Read more…
Discussions focused on how the appropriate use of existing scientific data can support efficient, science-based environmental risk assessment (ERA) while maintaining rigorous standards for the protection of human health and the environment. Read more…
PH, South Korea launch digital platform for smarter agriculture
The Philippines and South Korea launched a digital platform to speed up farm interventions and track supply chains in real time. Read more…
FPA: Illegal fertilizer plant in Nueva Ecija demolished
The FPA joined law enforcers in conducting a raid, wherein they seized roughly 500 bags of illegally manufactured fertilizer, 21 granulator machines, and several delivery trucks worth around P900,000. Read more…
DA-BPI opens National Seed Reserve Facility for food security
The Department of Agriculture (DA) has strengthened the country’s food security arsenal with the National Seed Reserve Facility, a centralized storage vault designed to preserve high-quality seeds and ensure a reliable supply of planting materials for both regular crop production and post-disaster recovery. Read more…
ISAAA Launches Brief 57 in Manila, Marking Two Decades of Biotech Success in the Philippines
To map this journey and look toward the next frontier of food security, the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), Inc. officially launched its flagship report, Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops in 2024 (Brief 57), alongside its supplementary report, Biotech Facts and Trends: Asia and Oceania. Read more…
Upcoming Event: Singapore International Agri-Food Week – October 26 – 29, 2026
The Singapore International Agri-Food Week (SIAW) is Singapore’s premier agri-food convention and flagship platform for advancing sustainable and resilient food systems in Asia. Through a series of events, SIAW showcases emerging technologies, shares best practices, and drives discussions on food security, climate resilience, and the future of food production and agri-food technology adoption in the region. Read more…
New grant to help S’pore farms offset rising costs from the Middle East crisis
The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) will launch a grant to help local agricultural producers offset rising operational expenses caused by the Middle East crisis to ensure uninterrupted local food production. Read more…
South Korea
Nepal, South Korea sign USD 11.8m grant deals for agriculture, law
Nepal and South Korea signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) worth USD 11.8 million in grant assistance to strengthen agricultural value chains and improve public access to legal information through digital services. Read more…
South Korea: ROK Increases Soybeans for Sprouting WTO Tariff-Rate Quota Volume
The Republic of Korea (ROK) announced a 10,000 metric ton (MT) increase in soybean-for-sprout imports under the 2026 WTO tariff-rate quota (TRQ) voluntary add-up plan to curb rising market prices and address potential tightened supplies in the second half of the year. Read more…
President Lee Calls for Increased Agricultural Subsidies
President Lee Jae Myung has called for increasing agricultural subsidies to protect food security and ensure the livelihoods of farmers. Read more…
‘AFPRO 2026’ Kicks Off at Seoul COEX on the 15th
Newly introduced “AX Special Pavilion” showcases cutting-edge Physical AI, autonomous agricultural robotics, and smart farming solutions. Read more…
Climate-agriculture support boosts rice harvests by 226 kg per acre
On 1 June, first, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), in partnership with Sri Lanka’s Department of Agrarian Development (DAD), inaugurated an Agro-Climate Advisory Lab at the Nagollagama Agrarian Service Centre. Read more…
‘Ceylon tea village 500’ national programme launched to boost tea industry growth
The ‘Ceylon Tea Village 500’ National Programme, aimed at increasing Sri Lanka’s made tea production to 400 million kilograms and boosting tea export earnings was launched. Read more…
The EU’s “New Genome Technologies” (NGT) regulations will take effect on the 16th. At a press conference held today by the Taiwan Science and Technology Media Center, scholars said that the biggest difference between gene editing and genetic modification is that there is no foreign gene. They hope that Taiwan can refer to these regulations to strengthen the plant’s ability to resist stress. Read more…
Taiwan amended its pesticide-use regulations to strengthen oversight of UAV pesticide applications, introducing mandatory drone identification, wind-speed limits, differentiated flight-height requirements, and continued reporting of spray records and flight trajectories. Read more…
Thailand Promotes Bioeconomy and Sustainable Agricultural Innovation at FAO COAG 2026
During the FAO Committee on Agriculture (COAG) meeting in July, Thailand highlighted its Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Economy Model as a key strategy for transforming agriculture. Read more…
Thailand: Pesticide Residue Rules Overhauled Under Ministerial Notification 460 – 2025
Việt Nam, Laos deepen cooperation in finance, agriculture
The two sides agreed to strengthen cooperation agreements, expand exchanges and share experience across agriculture, finance, natural resources and environmental management. Read more…
El Niño fears push rice importers to build stocks as Thailand watches drought risk
Thailand is facing a high probability of El Niño-induced drought conditions starting in mid-2026, threatening its rice production with below-normal rainfall. Read more…
PM Anutin heads to Malaysia for talks
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul will pay an official visit to Malaysia to strengthen bilateral ties and expand cooperation in trade, border development, security and agriculture. Read more…
Bayer Indonesia together with the Coordinating Ministry for Food held a corn harvest in Pijeran Village, Siman District, Ponorogo, East Java. Read more…
Shriram Farm Solutions Signs Strategic Partnership with ICAR-IIVR
Shriram Farm Solutions has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the ICAR–Indian Institute of Vegetable Research (IIVR), Varanasi during the 98th Foundation Day celebration of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). Read more…
IRRI welcomes Ravi Kota as its Chief Financial and Administrative Officer
Kota Ravi Chandra joins the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) as its new Chief Financial and Administrative Officer (CFAO), based at the IRRI headquarters, Philippines. Read more…
KAUST Unveils Precision Plant Engineering Method
The KAUST team developed a new method for placing large genes into specific locations within plants, giving researchers greater control over how new traits are introduced. Read more…
Ugandan Farmers Show Strong Interest in Gene-Edited Cassava
A study conducted by experts from Ghent University, Belgium and Gulu University, Uganda has identified the factors that could influence farmers’ willingness to adopt genome-edited cassava resistant to cassava brown streak disease. Read more…
Clemson Scientists Discover Reduced-Allergen Peanut Lines
Scientists at Clemson University’s Pee Dee Research and Education Center have identified key genetic regions that control production of the major allergenic proteins in peanuts. Read more…
A new MAFF-IRRI initiative brings together heat-tolerant rice breeding and low-emission farming to gear farmers across Asia against the dual challenge of climate change: ensuring food security while reducing methane emissions. Read more…
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