The live sheep export industry has been dealt a further blow with Australia’s biggest customer, Kuwait Livestock Transport and Trading, moving to source a long-term supply of sheep from South Africa.

About 1.7 million chickens have been killed in flooding from Florence as rising North Carolina rivers swamped at least 60 farm buildings where the animals were being raised for market, according to a major poultry producer.

Currently, a South African business delegation is in Russia to take part in the World Food Moscow fair. Its goal is to seek export opportunities in that country's agro-processing market, the department of trade and industry said on Monday.

South Africa's foreign economic representative in Russia, Moloko Leshaba, said it was a key market for the country's fresh fruits exports, with growth seen in several products including rooibos, honey bush tea and spices.

"South Africa has continued to see positive growth in exports to the Russia in a number of products. Bottled wines have been growing at more than 10 percent in the last four years, increasing the number of South African wine brands in the country," Leshaba said.

"Russia is actively looking for alternative suppliers of food and beverages to mitigate the effects of sanctions. South African companies have the opportunity to expand into a receptive market."

As described by allafrica.com, Russia has, in the last two years, invested significantly in the food production industry as part of its import substitution initiative. Fresh Plaza 

The agricultural exports of Egypt were estimated to be 4m tonnes in the season that ended last June. The Ministry of Agriculture, the Export Council and Haya Association target a 15% increase by the end of this year.

The Russian market has been one of the most prominent recipients of Egyptian agricultural products over the past few years as its imports were estimated to be $300m last season. 

The latest agricultural advances aren’t always high-tech. On farms around the world, growers are looking to the past for methods that can ensure soil health and bolster yields.

These techniques, such as integrated crop-livestock systems, soil terracing, and intercropping, were invented by long-ago farming societies to maintain fertility and soil structure or increase harvests. For many farmers, simpler methods can be as valuable today as they were in the past.

 Today, the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) and PG Economics, Ltd. released new studies highlighting the continued social, environmental and economic benefits of the global adoption of biotechnology in agriculture.