Crops
The Remarkable Life of the Hairy Caterpillar Hidden Among the Leaves
A hairy caterpillar spotted on a roadside debdaru tree offers a lesson in metamorphosis, and a reminder never to touch one with bare hands.
Latest
Latest news
Crops
Food Stocks Up by 1.5 Lakh Tonnes in the Government's Six Months
Bangladesh's public food grain stock has risen by 148,484 tonnes since the BNP government took office, reaching 23.59 lakh tonnes on 9 September.
Organic
Flower borders, ponds and old sarees: Rayalaseema grows the harvest before the harvest
Vegetable growers working with WASSAN in Andhra Pradesh's dry Rayalaseema are rebuilding the habitat that pollinators, spiders, ladybirds and soil fungi need, zinnia strips along fields, companion crops, staggered planting, farm ponds, trees on bunds and cloth ground cover that keeps soil cool and
Fisheries
Why native freshwater fish have vanished from Dhaka's markets: half to 60 percent is imported or farmed, open water down 34.5 percent in 40 years, 64 species at risk
Official catch figures from natural waters have more than doubled since 1983-84, yet wild fish are scarce at Karwan Bazar and Jatrabari; 5.97 million kg of frozen rui and katla came through Chattogram port in 2024, officials blame Farakka and dying river flows, and BFRI is breeding threatened specie
Crops
1.2m tonnes in the godowns, and farmers still queue for nothing
At least 15 farmer protests in a month, 204 mobile courts and 1,700 sacks recovered: why fertiliser in store is not reaching the field.
Crops
Tar spot of corn confirmed in North Carolina for the first time
The fungal disease tar spot has been found in corn in Randolph County, North Carolina, the state's first confirmed case, bringing to 19 the number of US states reporting it this year; a state pathologist says late-season infections rarely cut yield but scouting matters if wet weather continues.
LivestockA West Texas ranch horse is the first US equine screwworm case this century
New World screwworm larvae were found on 9 September in a hind-limb wound of a working horse in Presidio County; Texas has restricted animal movement out of an infested zone and US Equestrian is telling owners to check wounds every day.
Environment
South Asian states adopt Kathmandu Declaration against organised wildlife trafficking
At SAWEN's first general assembly, member countries committed to intelligence-led and financial investigations and cross-border cooperation; Environment Minister Abdul Awal Mintoo said no single country can fight wildlife crime alone.
Market Management
USDA trims corn yield to 178.5 bushels, lifts soybean crop to near-record 4.5 billion
Corn ending stocks fall to 1.567 billion bushels and the farm price rises 30 cents to $4.80; soybean prices dropped double digits on the day even as USDA raised its season-average forecast to $12; wheat was unchanged at 717 million bushels of stocks.
Market Management
USDA cuts US corn crop to 15.8 billion bushels and lifts soybeans in September WASDE
The September WASDE lowers the 2026/27 US corn yield by 2.2 bushels to 178.5 an acre and production by 213 million bushels to 15.8 billion, trims corn ending stocks to 1.6 billion, raises soybean output to 4.5 billion bushels with exports up 25 million, and leaves wheat unchanged.
Agribusiness
Government waived the loans of 1,434,482 small farmers with interest and paid banks Tk 1,352.74 crore, finance minister tells parliament
Answering a written question from Chuadanga-2 member Md Ruhul Amin on 6 September, Finance Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said every farmer who had borrowed up to Tk 10,000 had been covered by July 2026, in every upazila of the country.
Agrotech
Canadian farmers are using AI less for robots than for better decisions and less paperwork
Agrologist Rob Saik and Maverick Ag's Taylor Phillips say AI's present value on Canadian farms is in gathering information, playing devil's advocate and clearing administration, one producer cut chemical costs by nearly $1 million this year, even though an FCC/Deloitte report found only 1.8% of ag
AgrotechOttawa gives Vivid Machines C$1.69m to point its orchard cameras at vineyards
AgriScience Program funding under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership will adapt the Toronto company's computer-vision system, built for apple growers, to estimate crop load, spot disease early and forecast yield in grape vineyards.
AgribusinessCanada signs a new government-to-government potash supply deal with Bangladesh
Announced by trade minister Maninder Sidhu, the agreement routes Canpotex potash to the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation through the Canadian Commercial Corporation; twelve such contracts since 2014 have delivered more than 3.5 million tonnes, and Canada's fertiliser exports rose 13.2
Environment
Faridpur chars get 5,000 palmyra seeds and fruit saplings as a shield against lightning
A month-long drive across ten char unions in three upazilas, funded by the district council and run with the Faridpur Environment Development Forum, plants palmyra palms as natural lightning arresters.
Bangladesh
Vantara Pledges Cooperation in Identifying Lemurs Stolen from Safari Park
Vantara in Jamnagar, Gujarat, has promised full cooperation with any lawful request, including DNA testing, after reports that two lemurs stolen from Gazipur Safari Park ended up there.
Bangladesh
Capped Langur Killed in Road Accident in Sreemangal
A capped langur hit while crossing the Dhaka-Sylhet highway in Sreemangal died despite efforts by a CNG driver and wildlife workers to save it.
Agribusiness
Three raids in Khansama seize 1,600 sacks of hoarded fertiliser, two dealers fined
The administration in Dinajpur's Khansama upazila seized about 1,600 sacks of illegally stocked chemical fertiliser, fined two dealers a total of Tk 90,000 and ordered a case against a third trader.
Crops
Imaging spots soybean disease too late to save the crop, InnerPlant scientists argue
Two InnerPlant scientists argue that drones, cameras and AI all detect fungal disease in soybeans only after symptoms appear, when the spray window has passed, and make the case for plants engineered to signal infection about ten days earlier.
EnvironmentNorth Carolina gets US$54 million in one year to slow the loss of its farmland
The new state budget gives the farmland preservation programme almost half as much in a single year as it has spent in two decades, but Commissioner Steve Troxler says the state is still not protecting land as fast as development takes it.