World in brief

FRANCE

It is feared that volumes of Chablis, a very dry white wine produced only in the Yonne region of Burgundy, France, could now be under pressure due to the emergence of mild weather early in the year followed by frost in spring.

This weather pattern was once considered unusual. Now, however, it appeared to be a recurrent trend, according to farmers in the region.

Last year, two-thirds of the harvest in Yonne was destroyed as a result of frost, according to the French agriculture ministry.

UNITED STATES

The US Department of Justice has asked a federal court in Denver to drop price-fixing charges against five executives of chickenproducing companies. This comes after two mistrials in a case focused on competition in that country’s US$65 billion (about R945 billion) poultry sector.

This was done “in an effort to streamline the case and conserve the resources of the court, the parties, and the public”, the department said in court papers. It had not dropped charges against five other defendants.

TURKEY

The World Bank has approved a €306 million (about R4,9 billion) loan as part of a project to support Turkey’s agriculture sector and encourage the use of climate-smart technologies.

The project aimed to improve the collection and use of information on 14 million hectares of land, enhance disease surveillance of animals, and help reduce carbon emissions, the World Bank said in a statement.

According to the statement, agricultural expansion in Turkey was creating significant environmental and climate pressure. – Staff reporter