Browse Data and Analysis

On November 5, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare published a marketing year 2024/25 production forecast at the lowest level in five years, at 23.4 million 480 lb. bales on an area of 11.4 million hectares.

This report provides the latest status of consumption, regulation, public perception, research, development, production, government policy, and use of agricultural biotechnology in Japan. In general, Japan uses a science-based process for evaluating and granting approval for import and production of genetically engineered products.

The cotton production forecast for 2024/25 has been revised downward to 5.2 million bales, with the area unchanged at 2 million hectares.

In 2024, Japanese oil refineries have continued supplying ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE), which is made from approximately 824 million liters of bioethanol and reflects the annual target volume set by the Government of Japan (GOJ).

India’s 2025 beef production (mostly carabeef) is forecast to reach 4.64 million metric tons (MMT), up from 4.57 MMT in 2024, on steady domestic and increased export demand.

Sri Lanka’s agricultural biotechnology policies remain unchanged. Over the past year, there has been no progress in the approval of its draft Biosafety Act, which establishes a system to protect biodiversity, the environment and human, plant and animal health while minimizing the risks of biotechnology.

On November 7, 2024, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) opened a consultation on risk mitigation options for U.S. packaged honey bees as part of their process for updating the risk analysis for importation of U.S. packages.

FAS Mumbai forecasts MY 2024/25 Indian raw cotton exports at 1.2 million 480 lb. bales, 55 percent lower than previous estimate, due to India lint prices trading four percent higher than global prices, prompting buyers to prefer finer quality machine-picked cotton from foreign origins.

Kazakhstan has not announced any changes to its biotechnology policies. Major challenges like climate change, variable weather, monocropping wheat, and the reliance on Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) member biotechnology regulations could be a future catalyst for Kazakhstan to develop its own biotechnology law.

Canadian apple production is forecast to see a five percent growth in MY 2024/25, driven by a larger Quebec crop and average Ontario crop. Pear production is forecast to be down nine percent on 2023 numbers as a result of cold impacts to the crop in...

FAS/Tokyo projects that Japan's fluid milk production will decline in 2025, primarily due to a decrease in the milking cow population anticipated from 2024.

Canada continues to be the largest export market for U.S. consumer-oriented products. In 2023, U.S. consumer-oriented exports to Canada reached $20.2 billion, representing 25 percent of the total value of U.S. consumer-oriented exports worldwide.