World Bank‑hosted fund unveils $38m boost for smallholder farmers in drive to tackle food insecurity
New grants aim to raise farmer incomes, strengthen producer organisations and build resilience to climate and economic shocks
Agri-food
Climate crisis impact: Thai farmers in high-risk areas have double mental health risk
Thai farmers living in areas heavily affected by climate change are twice as likely to suffer from depression, with recent flooding events acting as a primary trigger for severe psychological distress.
Snow damage reveals looming crisis in Japan’s leading fruit-producing region
Heavy snow has exposed deeper structural problems in Aomori, Japan where ageing growers and a looming shortage of seedlings are threatening the renewal of orchards.
£1.6bn boost: McCain‑backed report says sustainable farming could transform UK farm profits by 2035
Demos report warns nearly one in five farms operate at a loss. But shifting to sustainable methods could deliver a £1.6bn annual profit uplift
‘Good time to be a dairy farmer’: Fonterra divestment windfall and high milk prices set up strong year for NZ
High milk prices, rising production, and a major cash return from Fonterra’s divestment are setting New Zealand dairy farmers up for a strong financial season.
Green revival: Female-led venture aims to rebuild Maluku’s spice value chain to lift farmer incomes
Sinar Hijau Ventures (SHV) is rebuilding Maluku’s spice value chain to lift farmer incomes and move communities away from extractive work that harms its biodiverse forests.
Pandawa Agri drives Indonesia’s low‑carbon coffee transformation with an integrated farming model
Pandawa Agri Indonesia plans to expand its integrated farming model across 10,000 hectares of coffee in Indonesia to support a major shift toward low‑carbon production.
India’s basmati exports slow as Iran war drives up freight costs, shipping disruptions
India’s basmati rice sector is facing slowed exports, falling prices and rising domestic stockpiles as conflict‑driven freight surcharges and container shortages hinder shipments to key Middle Eastern markets.
Shipping squeeze: Asian feed millers take ‘wait‑and‑see’ approach as Iran war pushes corn prices higher
Feed millers in Asia are holding back on new purchases as the Iran war drives freight costs and corn prices higher, with buyers monitoring how long the disruption in shipping and fuel markets will persist.
Leaps by Bayer’s PJ Amini pushes back after critics say new Playbook alienates early‑stage innovators
VP PJ Amini says the updated Ag Playbook 2.0 framework is meant to equip founders, not deter them, with clearer data on timelines, costs and development hurdles
Gene‑edited crops draw record investor backing as Tropic lands $105m to scale climate‑resilient bananas and rice
UK agri‑biotech Tropic has closed an oversubscribed $105m Series C, the biggest raise yet for a gene‑edited tropical crops company, as investors double down on CRISPR‑enabled tools to boost yield, fight disease and strengthen climate resilience across...
‘Somebody pays the cost’: Retail squeeze is pushing tea plantations to the edge – Dilmah Chairman
Dilmah Tea says retail’s relentless discount culture is undermining tea growers and stripping plantations of the resources needed to stay sustainable.
Vietnam doubles low‑emission rice target early by cutting adoption risks
Vietnam has nearly doubled its low‑emission rice target as adoption risks reduce for farmers across the Mekong Delta.
Cytotrait claims breakthrough for ultra‑high trait expression as it closes £3M seed round
UK spinout says its organelle‑engineering platform could unlock traits not possible to achieve with nuclear genome editing, as investors back new crop development programmes across Europe and North America
Tesco puts ‘low‑carbon’ potatoes on shelves in major test of consumer appetite for sustainable produce
The UK’s first crop of ‘low‑carbon’ potatoes has arrived on supermarket shelves, marking a milestone in efforts to prove that more sustainably produced foods can secure both retailer backing and mass‑market consumer uptake
The next five years will eclipse the last 25: Steve McLean on agriculture’s defining decade
New UK Agri-Tech Centre CEO Steve McLean says the industry is entering a defining period that demands bigger thinking, harder commercial focus, and technologies proven on real farms, not just in labs
Investors back biologicals as Mycoverse raises €2.4m to tackle potato blight
Mycoverse secures €2.4m pre-seed round to accelerate AI‑enabled biocontrol platform, beginning with potato late blight
Domestic disconnect: High costs, weak producer ties hinder local sourcing for Japan’s food makers
Japanese food manufacturers say high costs, unstable supply and weak direct ties with producers prevent them from shifting to domestically sourced raw materials.
More than maple syrup: Canada’s food exports hampered by poor marketing, lack of awareness
Canada produces an abundance of high-quality food, but weak marketing and low global awareness are limiting the country’s ability to capitalise on its full agricultural potential.
Equality in ag: Closing the gender gap in farming essential to global food and economic security – GAFSP
Closing the gender gap in farming is critical to global food and economic security, with evidence showing that equal access to land, finance, and inputs could improve yields by up to 30%.
‘The time is now’: Why Asia is a key market for Canadian exporters diversifying from US
Export Development Canada (EDC) identifies significant growth opportunities across Asian markets as Canadian companies look to diversify their exports beyond the US.
UK farmers say their sustainability efforts are being ignored, new research warns
Pinstone Pulse report finds 92% of farmers feel unrecognised for on‑farm sustainability progress – deepening a disconnect already flagged in last year’s Barclays‑commissioned analysis
‘Number one obstacle’: Canada wants to feed Asia but complex regulations slow market access
Canada believes it can help meet Asia’s growing food needs, but an industry leader says complex regulations are slowing market access, raising costs and creating uncertainty for companies.
Dyson Farming and KWS join Wild Bio in five‑year sprint to commercial precision-bred wheat breakthrough
University of Oxford spinout expects precision‑bred wheat to reach UK farms within around five years, following the launch of a new consortium with seed giant KWS and Dyson Farming, the UK’s largest commercial farming operation
From succession to stewardship: Why agriculture needs to prioritise intergenerational planning
Future planning in agriculture must prioritise long-term stewardship to address climate, biodiversity, and food security challenges that unfold over decades, says an agribusiness leader.
Why agtech start-ups failed last year – and a playbook for 2026
Analysis claims last year’s collapses stemmed from structural cost‑adoption mismatches – not broken technology – and outlines where disciplined growth will re‑emerge
State of the Sector
Rice and resilience: Behind the efforts to safeguard an increasingly fragile system– exclusive analysis
In this State of the Sector report, AgTechNavigator examines how rice production is evolving under the pressures of climate volatility, labour shortages and rising costs, highlighting how innovation and policy is impacting this important staple crop.
Farmers back photosynthesis tech but warn of market hurdles for rice and potato crops
Agricultural stakeholders are optimistic about biotechnology’s potential to supercharge photosynthesis in rice and potato crops, but have warned that market acceptance and pest resistance remain the ultimate barriers adoption.
China must bridge regulatory gap to unlock new breeding technology market potential
China currently stands at a critical juncture in the global race for agricultural supremacy. While the country has made massive strides in laboratory research for New Breeding Technologies (NBTs), a significant ‘institutional fence’ is preventing these...
Philippines’ stricter rice standards challenge Vietnam despite high import plans – VIETRISA
Vietnam faces tougher market access as the Philippines tightens rice standards, even while planning to import large volumes, says the vice president of the rice association.
Capital bottleneck: Banks the missing link in Vietnam’s million hectare low-emission rice ambitions
Banks need to be more than mere partners for Vietnam to fulfil the ambitions of its One Million Hectares of High-Quality, Low-Emission Rice initiative, says Lộc Trời Group chairman.
Investor profile
Turning agriculture into healthcare: Why The First Thirty is betting €100m on soil-to-health links
Investor Naeem Lakhani believes fixing human health starts with fixing soils. His agtech fund, The First Thirty, is raising €100m to back companies connecting soil biology, food quality, and human health – powered by AI and collapsing genomics costs
Sprout at scale: Ubiquity targets global collaborations for food innovations based on rapid germination tech
Taiwan-based Ubiquity is seeking global partners to co-develop new food and ingredient products using its proprietary rapid germination technology.
Extreme damages: Vietnam suffers massive crops and livestock losses to 2025 disasters
Vietnam agriculture sector records massive losses across crops and livestock to the “severe and extreme” natural disasters in 2025.
The missing link: Modern Village Foundation bridges agtech adoption gap for smallholders
India-based Modern Village Foundation (MVF) aims to close the adoption gap by delivering affordable agtech services to smallholder farmers through its unique model.
From lab to field: KoAT leverages tissue culture to accelerate adoption of new varieties
The Korea Agricultural Technology Promotion Agency is utilising tissue culture technology to enable faster field adoption of domestically developed new varieties seedlings.
PepsiCo’s Digital North Star: How the CPG giant uses AI, agtech to secure its potato supply chain
PepsiCo did not just spend 2025 launching the latest on-trend snacks and beverages, as the consumer packaged goods (CPG) giant doubled down on its technological investments and innovation — all in effort to secure its supply chain
Agtech promise falls short: UK official report highlights disconnect between innovation and on-farm reality
Influential former NFU president Baroness Batters calls for a “new deal” for British farming, highlighting that despite enthusiasm for technology it too often fails to align to business needs or find practical application on farms
EU delays deforestation rule, but industry pushes ahead on soy initiatives
AIC sets date for new sustainability scheme, ForFarmers in alliance with Bunge
SynTech Research Steps up banana disease fight with tech-driven trials and biological solutions
As climate volatility and aggressive pathogens threaten global banana production, SynTech Research Group is investing in drone spraying, digital monitoring, and precision agriculture – while expanding its biologicals portfolio – to safeguard one of the...
Vinaseed sees significant growth opportunities in Laos’ evolving agriculture sector
Vinaseed targets rising demand in Laos for high-quality, climate-resilient seeds as the country accelerates its sustainability agenda, creating new growth opportunities in maize, rice, and vegetables.
India deploys 31 new rice varieties developed by IRRI–NARES to boost yield, nutrition
India rolls out 31 new rice varieties that boost yields, strengthen climate resilience, enhance nutrition, and cater to regional grain preferences.
Investor profile
Profit meets purpose: Pymwymic’s fight to prove impact pays
Three decades after pioneering impact investing, Amsterdam-based Pymwymic is still making the case that financial returns and positive change can – and must – go hand in hand
Seed secure: China’s home-bred crop varieties reach 95% as livestock seeds exceed 80%
China’s ag ministry touts seed security as home-bred crop varieties reach 95% and domestic livestock and aquaculture brood stock surpass 80%, marking strong gains over its five-year seed revitalisation drive.
‘Not just another app’: IRRI’s PaddyMitra show how inclusive design can empower farmers
The International Rice Research Institute’s (IRRI) PaddyMitra chatbot underscores the importance of inclusivity and localisation in bridging the divide between modern farming and digital literacy.
Investor profile
‘We’re serious people’: Yield Lab Europe’s pragmatic approach to agri-food tech investing
Managing partner David Bowles explains why Yield Lab Europe avoids the hype, backs deep science, and leans on industry-tested networks to find agtech ventures that actually work – even if it means being the boring investor in the room
Better genes, better beef: Korea to launch hanwoo genetic testing to advance premium beef industry
The Korea Agriculture Technology Promotion Agency (KOAT) set to launch a genomic analysis service for hanwoo cow in December to strengthen the competitiveness of Korea’s premium beef industry.
From dashboards to decision-makers: Will agentic AI usher in a new era?
As climate volatility and data complexity rise, agentic AI is emerging as a powerful tool to help agrifood businesses move from reactive to proactive decision-making. But scaling the technology comes with its own set of challenges
Going global: OlsAro targets 2027 launch for its salt-tolerant wheat in Bangladesh ahead of worldwide rollout
Swedish agtech startup OlsAro’s salt-tolerant wheat is expected to debut in Bangladesh by 2027, with regulatory trials already underway and broader market expansion expected to follow from 2029.
Phil Hogan on agriculture in a Trump-era world: ‘Europe must adapt or lose out’
Only resilience, innovation, and open markets will keep Europe competitive, says the one-time Brussels insider