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Canada Standard
28-05-2025
- Business
- Canada Standard
Crop diversification is crucial to Canadian resilience in a changing world
The recent threats of tariffs and deteriorating relations with the United States have led to increasing interest from Canadian governments and the public in boosting the country's self-reliance. Politicians have called on the public to "buy Canadian," provinces have ordered American products removed from shelves and Canadian retailers have seen a surge in domestic sales. Yet the importance of agricultural adaptations for achieving greater Canadian self-reliance has largely been overlooked. The federal government's plan for building a stronger agrifood sector is mainly based on financial safeguards and loan options for impacted farmers and supply-chain management of existing products. The broad topic of agricultural innovation is barely mentioned at all. At a time of changing geopolitical and physical environments, we must ensure the long-term resilience of Canada's farms. An important step towards achieving this complex and multifaceted goal would be to diversify the country's crop production. Anyone browsing their supermarket's produce section will quickly discover just how few of the products are grown in Canada. This is ironic; as most gardeners know, many imported fruits and vegetables can grow extremely well in Canada. Canada imports around 50 per cent of vegetables and 75 per cent of fruits from abroad, much of it from the United States. This has not traditionally caused concern since the agri-food sector has a net trade surplus. But among Canadian crops, just two - canola and wheat - dominate total earnings. Canada's need for imports leaves it vulnerable, but so does its need for exports. In 2019, for instance, after the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, China imposed harsh trade restrictions on Canadian canola. That year, canola exports to China fell by 70 per cent. Today, Canada faces similar issues with 100 per cent tariffs imposed by China on canola products. Instead of just bailing out farmers impacted by current events, governments should help those who are interested to diversify and grow crops that can be sold domestically. Even before the current tariffs, there were good reasons for diversifying Canadian agriculture and growing food locally. The nutritional value of vegetables decreases during storage and transport, suggesting that local produce may be healthier. Similarly, crop diversity can be an important tool for improving plant and soil health and so increasing yields while ensuring environmental sustainability. In a meta-analysis of 5,156 experiments from across the globe, researchers in France and the Netherlands showed that crop diversification typically enhanced net productivity, soil function and ecosystem services. It had the greatest effect on water quality and organism-induced damage; weed reduction, pest reduction, disease control and associated crop damages showed 33-60 per cent average improvements. The benefits in terms of soil health and productivity may be compounded by intercropping plant species with fungi. Preliminary results from my current research project suggest that edible saprotrophic fungi could be used as a tool for maintaining soil health while minimizing the use of environmentally problematic soil amendments. Diversification studies include a range of different land management techniques, some of which involve elaborate intercropping approaches that might be difficult to implement on an industrial scale. However, even relatively simple crop rotation approaches have a positive impact on soil carbon, nutrient levels, microbial activity, biodiversity and net productivity, potentially leading to increased profitability. Longstanding arguments for crop diversification have been compounded by climate-change-induced food insecurity. Increases in the frequency and severity of wildfires and droughts suggest that rely on regions like California for food imports might be poor long-term planning. Similarly, parts of Canada face an increased risk of weather-induced crop failure. Crop species may no longer be a good match for the current climatic conditions where they're grown. Canola and wheat, for instance, are vulnerable to drought and heat stress during the flowering period. Crop diversification has long been used to minimize the impacts of climate insecurities in developing countries with less access to artificial irrigation and soil amendments. Switching to crops that can handle extreme weather events, like some beans, legumes and grains, could similarly increase Canada's climate resilience. Additionally, using crop rotation strategies based on a greater diversity of crops grown may help maintain higher yields during adverse weather. Canada is a world leader in agricultural research. Globally, the country ranks fifth with respect to articles published, but is further behind when it comes to implementation on farms. Despite the high benefit-to-cost ratios of applications of agricultural research, only six per cent of Canadian farmers are willing to adopt new approaches before they have been tested at scale. Meanwhile, almost 30 per cent are reluctant to change approaches at all. This is hardly surprising. Change is always associated with risks. For instance, while the majority of studies show a net benefit of diversification strategies, there are huge, context-dependent variations in the outcomes. Climate, soil, crop species and microbial communities all matter in ways that can be difficult to predict. Most farmers do not have the resources to retool their farms for new crops and assume the risks. Many face financial struggles and rising debt. This is due in part to higher production costs and lower commodity prices caused by large corporations controlling both the sales of farm supplies and the purchase of agricultural products. Skilled labour shortages and issues retaining younger workers may also undermine the willingness and ability to diversify with new crops. Qualified migrant workers with agricultural backgrounds could help, but restrictive immigration policies make finding workers challenging. Reactive government assistance that just keeps farmers above water will not address the challenges of a changing global trade environment and climate. To sustain momentum, the government needs to proactively fund targeted, large-scale feasibility studies and provide training, recruitment and transition funding for those interested in novel crop systems. Agriculture is part of the foundation for our society. We have become accustomed to having access to plenty of fresh food, but this is not the global or historical norm. Canada's food supply is maintained by farmers both at home and abroad who, for generations, have worked long days at low wages to feed us. If they do not receive the support required to adapt to our changing world, we might all discover how valuable food really is.
Business Times
21-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
DBS' Tan Su Shan ranked sixth in Fortune's list of the most powerful women in business
[SINGAPORE] Tan Su Shan, chief executive officer (CEO) of DBS , has been named the sixth most powerful woman in business in Fortune magazine's 2025 100 Most Powerful Women in Business list. In the top 10, she is the only Singaporean and one of two Asian-based business leaders alongside Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, who ranked 10th. The list, released on Tuesday (May 20), is 'based on company size and health, as well as an executive's career trajectory, influence, innovation and efforts to make business better', according to Fortune. Tan, who ranked 89th in last year's iteration, is the first woman to lead DBS, the largest bank in South-east Asia. She took over the helm from former CEO Piyush Gupta in March. Rounding out the top five are: Mary Barra, chair and CEO of carmaker General Motors; Julie Sweet, chair and CEO of services company Accenture; Jane Fraser, chair and CEO of Citigroup; Lisa Su, chair and CEO of semiconductor maker AMD; and Ana Botin, executive chairman of Banco Santander. OCBC group CEO Helen Wong ranked 15th and Png Chin Yee, chief financial officer of Temasek, was 87th.
Reuters
31-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
China's Huawei 2024 profit drops; revenue rises at fastest rate in five years
BEIJING/SHENZHEN, March 31 (Reuters) - China's Huawei Technologies ( said on Monday its profit fell by almost a quarter in 2024 versus a year prior when income from the sale of its Honor handset unit provided an earnings boost, while its revenue grew at the fastest rate in five years. Net profit tumbled 28% to 62.6 billion yuan ($8.63 billion), which a company spokesperson attributed to heavy investment into research and development - reaching 179.7 billion yuan or about 20% of revenue - and not receiving any income from unit sales. Huawei sold its budget smartphone unit Honor to a Shenzhen government consortium in 2020 after U.S. sanctions limited its access to high-end chips and services from Alphabet's (GOOGL.O), opens new tab Google, with payments boosting profit in subsequent years. The Shenzhen-based firm reported 862.1 billion yuan in 2024 revenue, up 22.4% from 2023, with information and communication technology infrastructure contributing most to the figure, growing 4.9% to 369.9 billion yuan, Huawei said in a statement. Last year was the third successive year of growth since revenue tanked nearly a third in 2021 amid intensified U.S. curbs on access to advanced chips due to security concerns. It also came close to its 2020 peak of 891.3 billion yuan. Revenue from Huawei's consumer segment - which includes smartphones and other digital gadgets - rose 38% to 339 billion yuan, the second-highest growth across its five major segments. Huawei's intelligent automotive solutions unit - which helps traditional automakers make smart cars - saw revenue jump by more than 4.5 times to 26.4 billion yuan. It also eked out a profit for the first time last year. In a press release, Huawei's rotating chairwoman and chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, said the results were in line with forecasts. "In 2024, the entire team at Huawei banded together to tackle a wide range of external challenges," Meng said, adding that Huawei devices are back in the fast lane. Huawei said it will continue to open up its platform capabilities to ecosystem partners and provide developers with tools and products in domains including its HarmonyOS, Kunpeng, Ascend and cloud computing products. Huawei has emerged as a centre for Chinese technological innovation in chips and operating systems amid a Sino-U.S. tech war, with its executives previously saying that U.S. action had pushed the company into "survival mode". The company has in past months struck a more confident tone, with founder Ren Zhengfei telling Chinese President Xi Jinping in May that concerns China had about a lack of home-grown chips and operating systems had eased. ($1 = 7.2503 Chinese yuan renminbi)
Daily Tribune
09-03-2025
- Business
- Daily Tribune
China says to slap fresh tariffs on Canadian farm, food products
China said Saturday it would slap tariffs on Canadian products including rapeseed oil and pork, after a Beijing probe into levies imposed by Ottawa on Chinese goods last year. Beijing's commerce ministry said it would hit imported rapeseed oil, oil cakes, and peas from Canada with a 100 percent tariff. Aquatic products and pork will face a 25 percent levy. The measures will come into effect on March 20, Beijing said. Ottawa last August placed 100 percent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports, matching US measures seeking to fend off a flood of Chinese state-subsidized cars into North America. It also announced a surtax on imports of steel and aluminum products from China. Beijing's commerce ministry said a probe into those measures found that Canadian policies 'disrupted the normal trade order and harmed the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises'. 'China urges Canada to immediately correct its bad practices, lift its restrictive measures and eliminate its negative effects,' a ministry spokesperson said. Canada is among the world's top producers of canola -- an oilseed crop that is used to make cooking oil, animal feed and biodiesel fuel -- and China has historically been one of its largest customers. But bilateral ties plunged into a deep freeze for several years from 2018, when Canada detained Meng Wanzhou, a top executive from Chinese tech giant Huawei, prompting Beijing to arrest two Canadian nationals in retaliation. And the fresh tariffs come as both Canada and China face deepening trade tensions with the United States, which under President Donald Trump has launched blistering new tariffs.
