DAVAO CITY -- The Department of Agriculture (DA) will ensure that the rice industry will become more competitive as the Rice Tariffication Law comes into force.

BEIJING -- Shares in China’s leading pig producers have soared to record levels despite one of the worst disease outbreaks in years, as investors bet on tightening pork supplies and strong government support for leading producers.

MECHANIZATION of rice farms in the country will begin next year as the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PHilMech) can only begin procurement once it receives its budget, an official said.

MOSCOW -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that Moscow was helping Venezuela with supplies of wheat, hours before a Reuters reporter saw a Venezuela-bound cargo ship carrying Russian wheat transit the Bosphorus.

SAO PAULO -- Brazil’s soybean exports are expected to fall in March due to US competition, farmer hoarding of beans due to low prices and forecasts for lower output in the world’s top exporter of the oilseeds, according to market participants and shipping data.

NEW DELHI -- A bumper harvest has led to a crash in turmeric prices in India, the world’s biggest producer and exporter of the bright yellow spice, causing furious farmers to stage protests in key growing regions demanding government help, growers and traders said.

THE NEWLY-SIGNED Republic Act (RA) No. 11203 or Rice Tariffication law is expected to reduce poverty by bringing down rice prices, but the bureaucratic process may delay the farmer relief measures attached to the law, academics said.

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) will resubmit its recommendations for the coconut industry which include the increase of coconut content in biodiesel as well as the imposition of quantitative restrictions on palm olein from Malaysia and Indonesia, Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said on Sunday.

AFTER 24 YEARS since the Philippines was granted approval in 1995 by the World Trade Organization (WTO) to impose quantitative restriction (QR) on rice importation into the country, the government finally eliminated the quota system on rice importation through the passage of RA 11203. The law, which was recently signed, will be implemented on March 5, 2019. One of the key features of RA 11203 is the replacement of the rice importation quota system with tariffs. In the new law, the following tariffs apply:

THE SENATE has adopted the House version of the bill institutionalizing a Department of Agriculture (DA) program promoting partnerships between farmers, fisherfolk and the private sector.

THE UNIVERSITY of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) will launch a book by Rolando T. Dy, the head of its agribusiness studies center, on March 20.

THE Department of Trade and Industry may consider imposing a sugar “import fee” equivalent to as much as seven times the current preferential tariff on Philippine sugar under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), as a safety net for farmers once sugar importation rules are eased.