WorldWatch:

[mikey]

TUESDAY 29 APRIL 2008

Focus on sustainable agriculture

My previous blog "Going organic is a dead-end street" received a lot of comments, mostly telling me that I didn’t know what I was talking about. However, the FAO backs my conclusion.

In a statement it said: "FAO has no reason to believe that organic agriculture can substitute for conventional farming systems in ensuring the world’s food security." Or as its director-general Jaques Diouf puts it: "You cannot feed 6 billion people today and 9 billion in 2050 without judicious use of chemical fertilisers."

Should we continue on the same path as we did the last decades? Answering that question I would say, no. In April a 2,500 page report was presented in South Africa called International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development  [IAASTD] which advocates a new way of farming using modern technology without losing sight of improvements in small scale farming.

The report - the first significant attempt to involve governments, NGOs and industries from rich and poor countries - took 400 scientists four years to complete. The present system of food production and the way food is traded around the world has led to a highly unequal distribution of benefits and serious adverse ecological effects and was now contributing to climate change.

GM not the solution
The authors said GM technology was not a quick fix to feed the world’s poor and argued that growing biofuel crops for car threatened to increase worldwide malnutrition. This was also a reason for the US, UK, Australia and Canada not yet to endorse the report.

The use of GM crops, where the technology is not contained, is contentious, the UN says. The authors say science and technology should be targeted towards raising yields but also protecting soils, water and forests.

The scientists said they saw little role for GM, as it is currently practised, in feeding the poor on a large scale. "Assessment of the technology lags behind its development, information is anecdotal and contradictory, and uncertainty about possible benefits and damage is unavoidable," said the report. Data on some crops indicate highly variable yield gains in some places and declines in others. The GM industry, despite being a sponsor of the report, disagrees and abandoned talks last year on this subject.

Biofuel not sustainable
The report says biofuels compete for land and water with food crops and are inefficient. They can cause deforestation and damage soils and water. The authors also warned that the global rush to biofuels was not sustainable. "The diversion of crops to fuel can raise food prices and reduce our ability to alleviate hunger. The negative social effects risk being exacerbated in cases where small-scale farmers are marginalised or displaced form their land," they said.

Of course international environment and consumer groups, including Third World Network, Practical Action, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, found confirmation in the report in being on the right track with their opinions stating: "This is a sobering account of the failure of industrial farming. Small-scale farmers and ecological methods provide the way forward to avert the current food crisis and meet the needs of communities."

Short-sighted
This conclusion is in my view far too short-sighted. Industrialised countries cannot go back to small-scale farming, however, exploiting farming in developing countries needs to be put to a halt. Subsidies distort the use of resources and benefit industrialised nations at the expense of developing countries. I think both industrial farming and small-scale farming can survive next to each other, but then developing countries must exercise their right to stop the flood of cheap subsidised products to protect their own farming sector.

On the other hand industrialised countries need to stop sucking out resources in developing countries and be creative in growing alternatives.

This will better develop agriculture that is less dependent on fossil fuels, favours the use of locally available resources and explores the use of natural processes such as crop rotation and use of (organic) fertilisers.


Author: Dick Ziggers

Post a comment
Comments (2)I totally agree with you that small scale farming holds the future for arigultural development in developing countries. please tell your friends in the world bank to stop exploiting the greed of third world politicans who have been blindly following their recommendations in order to get loans under conditions that have added to the sufferings of millions of farmers in developing nations. If you leave us alone in Nigeria, we have the capacity to develop our agriculture to levels that we attain food self suffiency and even feed the entire West African subregion. Istifanus Dafwang, Professor, NAERLS, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.

Dafwang

// 02 may 2008
I fully agree. Only decentralized small organic farming integrated with animal husbandry is the sustainable solution. Use Hydroponics to manage diverse weather uncertainties. I would like to get a copy of this rport

subodh kumar

// 02 may 2008

[mikey]

FRIDAY 04 JANUARY 2008

Only war, pandemics or chronic diseases can lower food prices

Do renewable fuels make our hamburger more expensive? Already since August 2006 public debate has intensified over the extent to which the expansion of the ethanol industry has resulted in higher agricultural commodity prices. Conventional wisdom and parrot-like communications have further clouded the debate.
There is limited conclusive data available on market movements due to the intensification of the ethanol business and most stories are based on anecdotal information.
Assessment on the effect of ethanol
Informa Economics conducted an assessment on the subject, and the results were released in December 2007.
Based on the American market, parts of the outcome could also be projected to other developed markets in the world; if not now, then in the near future.
Main conclusion of the report: there is no statistical proof that increases in corn prices have caused increases in food prices. Only 4% of the increase in consumer prices could be explained by an increase in corn prices. The market is far more complicated than that.
Lower harvests, stronger demands
There are a few market movements that have had a major impact on the price developments. Since 2004 the US corn crop harvest has been in decline. Since then the usage as corn for ethanol purposes has also increased considerably.
Yet, the ethanol industry was not the only source of additional demand for corn. US corn exports, rose to one of the highest levels of the previous decade. Thus, the combination of a reduction in supply and an increase in demand from both the ethanol industry and the export market led to corn prices moving higher starting at the end of 2006.
Farm value of commodities
In the US the "farm value" of commodity raw materials used in foods now accounts for 19% of total food costs, coming from 37% in 1973. Depending on the ingredients used the average of 19% can vary considerably. The US Department of Agriculture estimated that the farm value share of the retail food price is 6% for cereals and bakery items, 47% for beef, 30% for pork, 36% for dairy products and 17% for oils and fats.
Marketing bill determines price
What kills the food price is the so-called marketing bill, including the costs of labour, packaging, transportation, energy, profits, advertising, depreciation, rent, interest, repairs, business taxes and other costs not attributable to basic agricultural commodities.
Within the overall marketing bill, the costs of energy and transportation have increased considerably over the last several years, with crude oil prices surging from just under $60 per barrel in autumn 2006 to $100 per barrel at the end of 2007, the same period during which corn prices have increased.
Margins decline
Informa analysed the historical price relationships between corn prices and livestock, poultry, egg, and milk prices, and only found weak correlations. This implies that based on real data it is wrong to suggest that high and/or rising corn prices are the supposed reason behind high and rising retail meat, egg and milk product prices.
However an increase in corn prices will cause livestock and poultry feeding margins to be lower than they otherwise would have been. Cattle, pig and poultry prices were already on the rise in the late 1990s, well before the corn price began to increase significantly. Notably, dairy and egg prices have been driven higher mainly by strong export demand.
Food in income expenditure
The proportion of the average American’s disposable income that is spent on food has declined steadily over the last half-century, from 21% of disposable income in 1950 to below 10% in 2006.
Additionally, in 1950 around 83% of the food expenditure was for home consumption, but by 2006 this share had declined to 58%.
However prices for food consumed at home tend to be more volatile and are currently growing more rapidly than away-from-home food prices, which of course is logical. As a restaurant or take-away it is impossible to adapt your prices to market volatilities.
No relief
According to Bruce Scherr, CEO of Informa in an interview in Feedstuffs, there is no relief in sight. Because much of the increase in prices is a result of world growth, the only way to slow that significantly would be through war, pandemics or chronic health issues.
The report "Analysis of potential causes of consumer food price inflation" can be obtained from the Informa website

Author: Dick Ziggers

Post a comment
Comments (1)The increase in the price of maize particularly is attributed to the mammoth increase in the consumption of the cereal, whether feed industry or the starch and ethanol production. I think a study on the other conventional stuffs like pearl millet, jowar etc and eventually more use of these products can reduce the dependency on maize and hence the prices may start to slide down.

Mohit Agarwal

// 11 jan 2008

[mikey]

New source for biofuels discovered
// 01 may 2008

A newly created microbe produces cellulose that can be turned into ethanol and other biofuels, report scientists from The University of Texas at Austin who say the microbe could provide a significant portion of the nation’s transportation fuel if production can be scaled up.

 
Along with cellulose, the cyanobacteria developed by Professor R. Malcolm Brown Jr. and Dr. David Nobles Jr. secrete glucose and sucrose. These simple sugars are the major sources used to produce ethanol.

"The cyanobacterium is potentially a very inexpensive source for sugars to use for ethanol and designer fuels," says Nobles, a research associate in the Section of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics.

Decreased pressure on rainforest
Brown and Nobles say their cyanobacteria can be grown in production facilities on non-agricultural lands using salty water unsuitable for human consumption or crops.

Brown sees a major benefit in using cyanobacteria to produce ethanol is a reduction in the amount of arable land turned over to fuel production and decreased pressure on forests.

"The pressure is on all these corn farmers to produce corn for non-food sources," says Brown, the Johnson & Johnson Centennial Chair in Plant Cell Biology. "That same demand, for sucrose, is now being put on Brazil to open up more of the Amazon rainforest to produce more sugarcane for our growing energy needs. We don’t want to do that. You’ll never get the forests back."

Lot of work ahead
Brown and Nobles calculate that the approximate area needed to produce ethanol with corn to fuel all U.S. transportation needs is around 820,000 square miles, an area almost the size of the entire Midwest. They hypothesize they could produce an equal amount of ethanol using an area half that size with the cyanobacteria based on current levels of productivity in the lab, but they caution that there is a lot of work ahead before cyanobacteria can provide such fuel in the field.

Related folder:
Dossier AllAbout Bio Energy   

Related website:
University of Texas   

[mikey]

Agricultural trade - Sen. Edgardo Angara

 
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 OPINION By Sen. EDGARDO ANGARA 
 
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 Fair trade is a crucial component in agricultural development. And rural development is critical to poverty alleviation in developing countries. Farmers of the developing world should be given a level-playing field so that they can ramp up production, and allowed a certain leeway to make their products more competitive through preferential and special trade agreements, and elimination of trade-distorting subsidies. 
 
 
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Global trade in agriculture is unfair, skewed in favor of rich countries and against the poor.

Huge domestic support and export subsidies provided by developed countries to their farmers render the farm products of developing countries uncompetitive.

The total subsidy to agriculture in 2005 in OECD countries (the rich countries’ club) amounted to $385 billion, more than double the Philippines’ gross national product (GNP) last year, and over $1 billion a day. Developing countries like the Philippines cannot afford to provide its farmers the same subsidies that developed countries grant theirs.

As a result of this unfair trade regime, developing countries are inherent losers. Since its launch, the World Trade Organization (WTO) turned many countries from net exporters to net importers. In Asia’s developing countries, agricultural imports started exceeding exports by an average of 4 percent since 1994.

The Philippines, now considered one of the countries most vulnerable to the global rice crisis, was a net exporter of agricultural products pre-WTO membership. It enjoyed a trade surplus averaging $157 million a year from 1985 to 1994. Upon accession to the WTO in 1995, the country registered its first trade deficit in agriculture in a decade, and has never gotten over that slump ever since. Its export earnings grew 0.18 percent a year on average, while imports ballooned by 8.01 percent a year, with the trade deficit reaching $1.53 billion by 2006.

A study by Sandra Polanski of the Carnegie Foundation revealed that with the so-called propoor development programs under negotiation in the Doha Development Round, developing countries as a group will be net losers in agricultural trade while most of the gains will go to developed countries.

In its model, the World Bank simulated that middle-income countries will have a one-time loss of $500 million in real income in agriculture, while high-income countries will gain $18.1 billion.

This net loss means scarcer food and fewer livelihoods for people in the countryside, where poverty is most rampant. Seventy-five percent of the world’s poor reside in the rural areas.

Agriculture and rural development and international trade are strongly intertwined. The current unfair terms in agricultural trade, while beneficial for urban consumers, are driving farmers of the developing world into subsistence living.

Fair trade is a crucial component in agricultural development. And rural development is critical to poverty alleviation in developing countries. Farmers of the developing world should be given a level-playing field so that they can ramp up production, and allowed a certain leeway to make their products more competitive through preferential and special trade agreements, and elimination of trade-distorting subsidies.

E-mail: edgardo_angara@hotmail.com. Web site: www.edangara.com.
 

[mikey]

Vietnam PM warns of 'severe punishment' for rice hoarders

Agence France-Presse

HO CHI MINH CITY - Vietnam's government Monday said the country has sufficient rice stocks and threatened to punish speculators who hoard rice for profit after price surges triggered a run on the staple grain.

Many supermarkets and street stalls quickly ran out of rice in Ho Chi Minh City at the weekend as thousands of consumers, worried by rumours of looming shortages, queued to stock up on rice, further driving up retail prices.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in an urgent message to all cities and provinces said that Vietnam, the world's number-two rice exporter, has enough stocks to meet domestic and export demand amid record global rice prices.

The premier, whose government has been battling double-digit inflation driven by food and energy prices for months, warned traders of "severe punishment" if they hoard rice and speculate on the commodity for profit.

The government "strictly forbids organizations and individuals without function to trade food from buying paddy and rice for speculation," said an official statement, following reports that investors had bought up rice stocks and refused to sell them while waiting for prices to climb even further.

The warnings came after sudden price increases from Saturday morning sent shoppers rushing to supermarkets, especially in the country's largest city, formerly called Saigon, amid what local media dubbed "rice fever."

Shoppers and restaurant owners were piling large stacks of 10-kilogramme (22-pound) rice bags onto their motorcycles, while at least one supermarket chain, Saigon Co-op, limited sales to one bag per customer.

The Thanh Nien daily reported that, within several hours Saturday, the price of one kilogramme of standard rice surged from 10,000 to 18,000 dong (63 US cents to 1.13 dollars) in many retail outlets, further fuelling the run.

In other southern towns, including the Mekong delta hub of Can Tho, prices also went up fast, while some distributors stockpiling rice and turning away customers who then went to buy up noodles instead, media reports said.

Dung assured officials and citizens that "rice production of your country in 2008 can completely meet domestic consumption, and part of it can be exported."

Vietnam's government last week reiterated it had stopped new rice export contracts until the end of June, despite a bumper harvest in the Mekong delta, the main rice basket, to ensure food security and fight inflation.

Dung earlier capped 2008 national rice exports at 3.5 million tonnes, down from a previous target of 4.5 million tonnes, while Vietnam has honoured export contracts, including shipments to rice-deficit country like the Philippines.

World grain prices have sky-rocketed, a trend blamed variously on higher energy and fertiliser costs, greater global demand, droughts, the loss of farmland to biofuel plantations, industry and cities, and on price speculation.

Vietnamese consumer prices have risen by more than 17 percent in the first four months of 2008 year-on-year, fuelling popular anger and labour unrest.

Jonathan Pincus, the UN Development Programme's (UNDP) chief economist in Vietnam, said the country's problem with rice was due to prices, not supplies.

"Vietnam is a food exporting country, where there is no problem of supplies," Pincus told AFP. "There are problems of prices, and higher prices hurt particularly people working for wages.

"It's very natural to see strikes and higher wage demands because people's money is not going as far as it used to."

Pincus said he did not foresee food riots but said Vietnam's government knows "that some of the gains made in poverty reduction over the past 10 years are in jeopardy if they are not able to bring food prices into line."

[mikey]

Animal Feed & Animal Nutrition News Fish meal allowed in milkreplacers
// 06 may 2008

The Scientific Committee in Brussels has approved the motion to allow fishmeal back into milkreplacers for young ruminants.

The proposal was suggested by the European Commission. Allowing fishmeal is the first step into further diminishing the ban on feeding animal proteins to mammals.

The next – allowing meat meal into animal feed – depends on the speed of developing and availability of animal-specific tests, which can be used in practice.

These tests are necessary to be able to guarantee the non-cannibalism principle. It should be avoided that for example pigs receive feed containing meat meal of its own species.

For ruminants the ban on meat and bone meal stays in place due to the risk on BSE or mad cow disease, the reason for imposing the ban more than ten years ago.

[mikey]

Animal Feed & Animal Nutrition News Mixed response for GM-crops in Asia
// 06 may 2008

The Philippine government has openly embraced the commercial growing of genetically modified (GM) corn, but neighbouring countries appear less than enthusiastic.

While Japan does not grow GM crops due to safety concerns among consumers it does import GM grains for use in making products such as cooking oil, animal feed and manufactured goods.

Japanese companies have been reluctant to test the market for consumer-ready GM food because of labelling requirements and public safety worries.

While Japan does not ban GM farming, strict regulation has discouraged corporate investment in the area.

But with rising food prices causing increasing concern in a country that imports more than half of what it eats, the government has said that GM crops may be a way to ease food security and environmental problems.

Strict rules in South Korea

In South Korea a law which came into effect on January 1 this year imposed strict rules on the import of GM seeds.

While there are domestic GM seed programs for experimental purposes none are for commercial use, an agriculture ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

In Bangkok the regional headquarters for the United Nation's Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) said it had not seen any signs that governments in Asia were pushing for genetically-modified seeds.

GM for food not allowed in China
In China the State Council, or cabinet, issued detailed rules in 2001 covering safety, labelling, licensing for production and sales, and import safety policies of all GM products.

Genetically modified grain, including seeds, is not allowed for edible consumption in China. Genetically modified products are allowed for indirect uses, such as making edible oil, but it must be labelled clearly.

The Philippines is the first country in Southeast Asia, and possibly all Asia, to have a commercial GM food crop.

However critics argue that "the government would say it is because the Philippines should not be late in embracing a technology that promises to help increase the income of farmers and provide higher yields. But the fact is the Philippines is so close to the US that whatever policies the US have regarding GM crops the Philippines usually follow suit."

For regular updates on feed news

[mikey]

Animal Feed & Animal Nutrition News Multiple plant extracts perform better
// 06 may 2008

Single plant extracts do not satisfy all variabilities in rumen digestion, but a combination of products show better effects.

Some five years ago Pancosma introduced its first plant extract product for ruminants, Xtract 6965, designed primarily for use in dairy cow feeding programmes.

Following further research into the application of plant extracts in ruminant nutrition, with an added focus on beef production, it became obvious that a single product could not satisfy all the variabilities of diet type, rumen interactions, behavioural patterns and production methods. This applies equally to dairy and to beef production.

Three plant extracts
A consequence of this research is the development of another unique product, Xtract 7065, which contains three different plant extracts: eugenol, cinnamaldehyde and capsicum.

This dual product approach provides the basis of a new concept, "Xtract Systems for Feeding Ruminants". This enables Xtract performance, enhancing supplements to be positioned more accurately in specific feeding programmes ranging from high forage to high concentrate in beef and dairy production systems.

In a farm trial with the new Xtract 7065 involving 153 beef cattle on barley straw and ad-lib concentrates, feed conversion was improved by 16%, feed use was 14% lower but weight gains similar with those animals fed the ration containing Xtract. These results produce potentially substantial economic benefits.

Controlled release
Another unique property of Xtract 7065 is its microencapsulated physical form using hydrogenated vegetable oil as the base carrier.

This allows for a controlled release of the active substances in the rumen over a long period of time enhancing their reactivity with rumen contents and, in specific cases, modifying feed intake patterns.



For regular updates on feed news subscribe

[mikey]

Animal Feed & Animal Nutrition News Traceable accuracy for animal feed
// 06 may 2008

Nichols (Cowmills) Ltd in Bristol, UK is an animal feed producer that is now achieving 99% accuracy for 50 different animal feed recipes thanks to a throughput weighing system from Avery Weigh-Tronix.

The feed company specified the system to accurately formulate its recipes from ingredients held in 13 storage hoppers. Previously Nichols used a hand controlled auger system and a scale to weigh out the ingredients.

With the cost of ingredients such as barley and soybean rising, it has become more important to accurately control their use and improve efficiency. In addition, all animal feed has to meet strict traceability legislation.

Using the old system paper records were kept, but now all the formulations are recorded on a PC. This will record both the normal recipe and the actual formulation used, since if an ingredient is running low in a storage hopper the system can suggest substituting an alternative. The new system has also improved the repeatability of recipes.

"The new system gives us an accuracy to the nearest kilogram for each ingredient", said mill manager Graham Millard. "It is also faster and easier for the operative to use with no chance of error. Using the old system we could mix about three tonnes per hour, now we can mix up to six tonnes per hour."

The system uses a P911 throughput weigher. This uses high-resolution technology to provide accurate bulk weighing of free flowing solids.

An E1310 programmable indicator from Avery Weigh-Tronix controls the system. This stores the recipes and collects and records data and interfaces with a PC and software also supplied by Avery Weigh-Tronix.

In the mean time Nichols has already added a second system at their other mill.

For regular updates on feed news subscribe

[mikey]

Animal Feed & Animal Nutrition News Outrage on European chickens eating pigs
// 07 may 2008

Many are outraged as the EU is preparing to allow the remains of pig carcasses to be used in poultry feed, which would save UK farmers millions of pounds as cereal prices soar.
 
The practice of using pig remains in chicken feed was banned in Europe after the BSE crisis 10 years ago. This proposal, according to the Observer, has outraged animal rights campaigners, and Muslim organisations among other groups, who claim the move would put families at risk, offend religious sensibilities and lead to a major consumer backlash.

"There are two million Muslims in Britain and 25 million in Europe and this move would be a disaster for every one of them," said Dr Abdel Majid-Katme of the Islamic Medical Association, adding that this is a sinful idea.

Offended consumers
The RSPCA voiced its concerns about the health risks involved. Additionally, agriculture experts believe many consumers would be offended by the idea of a return to the use of animal remains in farm feeds. "I think there will be such a backlash from consumers that the idea would have to be dropped," said Tom Acamovic, a nutrition expert based at the Scottish Agricultural College.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said it would back the move only if proper safety tests were introduced.

"We understand the European Commission will be submitting a proposal later this year," said a spokesman. "We would only support it if we were fully satisfied that appropriate and effective testing had taken place to control the use of such proteins in poultry feed."

The proposal, however, is backed by a former risk assessment adviser for the Food Standards Agency, Philip Comer of DNV Consulting. "The by-products of slaughter are a very valuable source of protein," he said. "We should not be wasting it."

For regular updates on feed news subscribe

[mikey]

Animal Feed & Animal Nutrition News Biofuels halt may ease food prices
// 07 may 2008

A moratorium on global grain- and oilseed-based biofuels would help ease raging wheat and corn prices by up to 20% in the next few years, the International Food Policy Research Institute said.
 
"Our models analysis suggest that if a moratorium on biofuels would be issued in 2008, we could expect a price decline of maize by about 20% and for wheat by about 10% in 2009-10. So it's this significant," Joachim von Braun, who heads the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), said.

"There are biofuels and there are biofuels, good and bad ones ... Waste-based and sugarcane-based can be very good," von Braun said.

Biofuel supporters in the United States call the ethanol criticism wrong-headed and see the technologies as a needed alternative to America's dependence on foreign oil.

That is especially important, they say, with oil prices breaking new ground close to US$120 a barrel. US food prices are expected to jump by up to 5% this year. At the same time, about a quarter of the US corn crop will go toward ethanol.

Bush: Energy biggest price driver
Yet the Bush administration sees energy, not ethanol, as the biggest price driver, and describes a future for biofuels that leans heavily on alternate sources like switchgrass.

"The truth of the matter is, it's in our national interest that we - our farmers - grow energy, as opposed to us purchasing energy from parts of the world that are unstable or may not like us," President George W. Bush said.

However, some state governments are publicly reconsidering their ethanol policies, and a few big meat and poultry companies are asking for steps to cool the high cost of animal feed.

Von Braun argues that crops like sugar cane offer greater promise for biofuels. "The opportunities of agriculture being an energy producing sector should not in principle be discarded," he said.

Von Braun also said that changing supply-and-demand dynamics had been driving soaring crop prices through the end of last year, but that market speculation and government steps to curb prices - such as export bans - had taken on an increasingly influential role in 2008.

For regular updates on feed news

[mikey]

Animal Feed & Animal Nutrition News Amino acids market to grow 6.8% per year
// 08 may 2008

Global amino acids market is projected to grow at 6.8% annually through 2013. China is the leading producer, but the US is to overtake this position within five years.
 
Research and Markets has added the The Amino Acids report to their offering. The report analyzes the market by type and application at global level and for each of the geographic regions - North America, Europe, China, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Rest of World.

The Amino Acids market is segmented by type into Glutamate, Lysine, Methionine, Branched Chain Amino Acids and Phenylanine; and by application into feed additives, food ingredients, and nutraceuticals/pharmaceutical.

Business profiles of 11 major companies and 79 competitor companies are discussed in the report. The report serves as a guide to the Amino Acids industry, covering 405 companies that are engaged in Amino Acids R&D, processing, production, and distribution.

Information related to recent product releases, product developments, partnerships, collaborations, mergers and acquisitions, ethical issues, regulatory affairs, and other areas of concern is also covered in the report.

Projections and estimates are graphically illustrated by geographic region with exclusive graphical representations provided for 271 exhibits.

Chinese dominance
China, the leading market (25% of global market share in 2006) for amino acids presently is projected to manage the leading position during the analysis period with its share dropping to 23.4% by 2013.

North America is the fastest growing (almost 8% during 2000-2013) market for Amino Acids, and is projected to gain dominance over China by the end of the analysis period.

Increase in competition of prices of Amino Acids has resulted in the increase in prices of raw materials. Thus the collective work of different fields of science and technology is the cause for the successful and flourishing production of amino acids.

Mergers and aquisitions
Mergers and consolidations within the industry will drive the industry further. China, the largest producer of amino acids, has several production companies which are increasingly entering into alliances with producers of western countries. Such alliances are paving way to more production facilities and more production of amino acids at the global level.

Amino acids can be described as a group of organic molecules that comprise of an organic R group or a side chain, which presents a solitary characteristic to the amino acid, an acidic carboxyl group represented as -COOH and a basic amino group represented as -NH2. If two or more amino acids combine, the combination is known as a peptide.

Today amino acids can be taken as a supplement that is available commercially. Amino acid supplements are usually made from animal protein, vegetable protein, or yeast.

While almost all amino acids can be produced in two forms - the L and D form, it is not so in the case of glycine.

L and D basically refer to the manner in which the amino acid is wound up. L is the left winding amino acid and D is the right winding amino acid.

Human amino acids have been found to be the L type and this is usually the preferred supplement as well.

[mikey]

China Ag ministry: more grain in 2008
// 09 may 2008

China's grain output in 2008 is expected to surpass the 500 billion kilograms recorded for 2007, the official China Securities Journal reported, citing the agriculture minister Sun Zhengcai.

 
Sun said the agricultural products market is currently in balance due to output growth in recent years and large reserves.

"Farm produce prices are reasonable and controllable," Sun added. Premier Wen Jiabao has said that barring natural disasters, China will have a steady supply of grain. "China's grain output grew four consecutive years to 500 billion kilograms in 2007, and we are confident the country can maintain a stable supply this year.

The central government promised to spend 562.5 billion yuan (€52 billion) this year to support farmers, 130.7 billion yuan (€12 billion) more than in 2007.

[mikey]

Germany want relaxation MBM ban
// 08 may 2008

German Agriculture Minister Horst Seehofer wants to relax the ban of using meat and bone meal (MBM) in animal feed. Cutting animal feed costs would be a major component in moves to counter the rising trend in global food prices, he told a news conference.


The EU banned use of meat and bone meal in farm animal feed in 2001 largely as part of moves to stamp out mad cow disease BSE and associated illnesses.

The ban on meat meal compels the use of more expensive feed ingredients and needs fresh debate, Seehofer said. "I think there should be a relaxation," he said. But this would only be for certain types of feed for non-ruminating animals, he added.

Seehofer said the German government was working on proposals to relax the ban which could be ready in about three months.

[mikey]

Animal Feed & Animal Nutrition News EU wants Russia to lift meat bans
// 12 may 2008

The EU's executive arm has stated that Russia's ban on imported meat from large companies in seven EU countries was disproportionate and should be removed.


"The (European) Commission maintains that EU meat does not pose a risk to the consumer and that the measures taken by Russia are disproportionate," said a spokeswoman for EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou said in a statement. "Therefore, the Commission has requested Russia to review its measures," the statement said.

Antibiotics levels too high
Reuters reports that Russia, which is a major consumer of western European meat, has recently introduced a series of company-specific bans on poultry, pork and beef imports after determining that antibiotic levels in meat shipments exceeded safe limits.

"On the basis of the initial information available to the Commission, the levels of antibiotic residues reported by Russia remain in most cases well below the maximum residue levels allowed in EU legislation and in the international standard," the spokeswoman said.

The ban has affected meat firms in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Belgium and Hungary, while imports from companies in the US, Canada, Brazil and Argentina have also been banned indefinitely.

Politically motivated
Some European diplomats in Moscow said the restrictions could be politically motivated and obstruct Russian accession to the World Trade Organisation, according to Reuters.

Moscow has been accused repeatedly in the last few years of using import bans on agricultural products for political ends, but this has always been denied by Russian officials.