India’s rice exports have been lower in 2016/17, but its non-basmati varieties are expected to do better in 2017/18 and find a market in Bangladesh as well as possibly Nigeria. However, basmati could lose the EU market because of a new policy. Pulses Prices Continue to Slide; Planted Area is Up India’s pulses demand is 24-25 MMT, and the ag minister has stated that the country would become “self-sufficent” production-wise in coming years. However, it does not appear that this will happen rapidly. Prices of the three main pulses are all currently lower.Black lentil (urad) prices are down 41.55 percent from the January 2017 peak, 30.76 percent below the seasonal average achieved in April 2017 and 20.37 percent less than the announced 2017/1...
Key Takeaways: Drought remains a major threat to global agricultural production, particularly in regions with limited rainfall and growing water scarcity. Commercially available drought-tolerant traits in corn, soybeans, and wheat have generally delivered modest yield improvements, limiting th...
Key Takeaways: Peace at last in the Persian Gulf? Over the weekend, the U.S. announced and Iranian officials confirmed a peace agreement, with formal ratification set for Geneva on 19 June. The announcement means the Strait of Hormuz is set to reopen fully and toll-free within 30 days.&n...
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.