China to Boost Biotech Industry The State Council, China's national cabinet, on 8 January announced that the government will provide further support to the biotechnology industry in order to tackle problems related to population growth, food safety, energy conservation and environmental protection. By 2015, the government aims to double the share of GDP that the sector's value-added output accounts for from the 2010 level, which is 4 percent. According to the plan, from 2013-15 the country's biotech sector will see its output surge at an average annual rate of more than 20 percent to reach $23.8 billion in production. The plan also includes improving the sector's innovation and technological prowess to make it a pillar industry by 2020...
What You Need to Know Today: U.S. weather is getting more attention this week as conditions vary greatly across the western, central, and eastern corn belts, with the different regions battling dryness and too much rain simultaneously. The ProFarmer Crop Tour began today in Indiana and Nebrask...
Key Takeaways: Argentina is on pace for a record corn crop and record exports in the current marketing year, with abundant supplies likely to keep the country highly competitive in global export markets. Argentina’s record exportable surplus is allowing it to offer highly competitive pri...
From WPI Consulting
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.