Despite progress in the protection of grasslands in China, the ecosystem remains fragile, said Agricultural Minister Han Changfu on Wednesday [1 November 2017]. Chinese grasslands cover an area of nearly 400 million hectares, about 40 percent of the total territory, and have suffered pest and rat attacks, fires and drought, among other damage, Han said
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China’s biggest producer of sugar, has reduced pesticide use by more than 30 tonnes since 2011 through biological pest control, local authorities said. Guangxi has used an army of Trichogramma chilonis, a kind of wasp, to combat sugarcane borers, in around 3 million mu (200,000 hectares) of low-yield fields over the
Giant African snails happily munch on vegetables in south China, one bite from a red fire ant from Latin America causes humans to slip in to a coma and the ecosystem in northwest China is under threat from invasive trees from Central Asia. As China grapples to cope with the adverse affects of an influx
The Chinese central government has earmarked 650 million yuan ($105 million) for the prevention of plant disease and elimination of pests. The Ministry of Finance asked local authorities to distribute the money in time and make sure the special funds will be used properly…Full Article: China Daily Sept 2014 Key Point An additional 1.55 billion
China has become one of the countries hardest hit by invasive species, threatening its biodiversity and agricultural production, authorities said on Friday. A total of 529 non-indigenous species have invaded the country since the 1980s, said Wang Yanliang, a Ministry of Agriculture official in charge of ecological and resources protection, at a meeting about invasive
Recent reports of worms being found in chocolate in China, especially chocolate containing nuts, are likely the result of poor handling in the distribution process, according to the China Economic Net website. Worms have been found in chocolate products across China over the past six months, the website said, with the latest incident reported by
For the first time, bodies of a harmful snail have been found in a batch of imported rapeseed at a port in South China, authorities said. Lots of bodies of Cochlicella Barbara were recently found in cargo at the port in Fangchenggang, in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region…Full Article: China Daily Dec 2013 Key point
Italians fearful of copycat Chinese imports killing off demand for their prized homegrown delicacies have added another culinary touchstone to the danger list: the chestnut. As cheaper Chinese chestnuts flood the market, Italian harvests have plunged by 70% since 2005 to 18,000 tons this year due to the arrival from China of a deadly wasp,
The Chinese government has lifted its trade ban on hardwood logs exported from Virginia and South Carolina, the Virginia Port Authority announced recently. The lifting of the ban takes effect on Sunday [15 September 2013]…Full-text article: PilotOnline.com Sep 2013 Key point Pine and other softwoods are still banned due the risks associated with pinewood nematode.
Banana exports to China are expected to increase by at least 5% to 475,650 metric tons in 2012 from 453,000 in 2011, despite the trade fiasco that affected the entry of shipments in the middle of the year. “Shipments to China have already reached 400,000 MT as of end-September. We are expecting that this will