Cubbie sale to Chinese attacked by Independent senator Nick Xenophon

AUSTRALIA'S foreign investment rules for farmland are making us an international laughing stock, Independent senator Nick Xenophon said yesterday. The debate over foreign ownership of prime agricultural assets has been reignited by Treasurer Wayne Swan's decision to approve the sale of the giant cotton farm, Cubbie Station in southwest Queensland, to a Chinese-led consortium. Textile manufacturer Shandong Ruyi has an 80 per cent stake, with Australian wool firm Lempiere holding the rest. But conditions imposed by Mr Swan include a requirement for the Chinese-Japanese consortium to reduce its stake in Australia's largest cotton producer to...

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‘Pineapple Fest strategy to transform agriculture’

SARIKEI: The Pineapple Fest, an annual signature event here, is part of the strategies designed by the Barisan Nasional (BN) government to transform agriculture into one of the country’s main economic activities. “Various programmes are being implemented by the government to transform agriculture into a lucrative occupation, to improve the socio-economy of the people as well as to ensure the country’s self-sufficiency in food supply,” State Legislative Assembly Speaker Datuk Amar Mohamad Asfia Awang Nasar said when officiating at the launching ceremony of the Pineapple Fest here last Friday night. “Despite its huge potential in food...

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Agriculture commissioner requests probe of Uniontown voting; turnout under scrutiny

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — State Agriculture Commissioner John McMillan wants the Justice Department to investigate possible voting irregularities in Uniontown. The commissioner, the governor and the state auditor each appoint one member of the three-person county boards of voting registrars, including in Perry County, where Uniontown in located. The Tuscaloosa News reports (http://bit.ly/N5zscn ) that Tuesday's vote has raised questions because of unusual turnout figures. More people are registered to vote than live in the town of roughly 1,775 people. The 2010 U.S. Census found there were 1,140 residents 18 years or older in Uniontown. But on Tuesday, 1,431 people voted for mayor and just under that figure cast votes in the council races. In another potential irregularity, a total of...

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Agricultural census figures have discrepancies

NAGPUR: Even as the mammoth exercise of Phase I of agricultural census is nearing completion, the department has started re-verification of the data that it has compiled because of mismatch with the data collected by revenue department. The mismatch is between sizes of land holdings in Vidarbha. Agricultural census is done after five years. The first such nation-wide census was done in 1970-71 by central government with the government of states and union territories. It is done to detailed and reliable data on structure and characteristics of agricultural holdings. This is required for formulation of various government policies and schemes...

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State Fair showcase for Nebraska’s biggest business — agriculture

Along with hundreds of agricultural shows and displays, this is the 10th year agricultural associations and organizations have joined together to tell their story at the State Fair. Grouped together in the Exhibition Building, their theme this year is, “The Story of Nebraska Agriculture.” When Nebraska commodity organizations looked for a theme for this year’s State Fair, “it really wasn’t too hard to think of an idea,” said Christin Kamm, public information officer for the Nebraska Department of Agriculture. “We are just trying to get the word about agriculture out, and the story of Nebraska agriculture just fit very well with what we...

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US corn harvest seen at record 10 percent

 Harvest of the world's biggest corn crop was still on a record pace but farmers were advancing cautiously due to high moisture levels in fields, analysts said on Monday. US corn harvest was likely 10 percent complete as of August 26, according to the average of estimates in a Reuters survey of 12 analysts. Estimates ranged from 7 percent to 13 percent complete. A week ago, USDA pegged corn harvest at 4 percent complete, a record for August. "Corn is still wet," said Shawn McCambridge, grains analyst at Jefferies Bache. "If you can leave it drying in the fields, you can save the drying costs. They are going to do that as long as field...

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Government urged to fix minimum procurement price of sugarcane

ZAHID BAIG  Pakistan Agri Forum's Chairman Muhammad Ibrahim Mughal has urged the government to fix the minimum procurement price of sugarcane crop for the current season at Rs 225 per maund in the central Punjab and Rs 240 in Rahim Yar Khan and Sindh. Higher price in Sindh and Rahim Yar Khan areas is being asked due to high sucrose level in sugarcane of these areas which leads to higher recovery rate for the mills, he said while talking to a select group of journalists here on Saturday. Mughal claimed that the Punjab government had notified support price for sugarcane at Rs 164 per maund...

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Russia rejects grain export limits as harvest outlook cut

 Russia's government, coping with a drought which has slashed grain yields by a more than a quarter, will not limit grain exports even if its exportable surplus is exhausted, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said on Friday. Markets had been bracing for an indication of some controls on Russian grain exports after watching crop forecasts fall week after week as the drought wore on, raising concerns of a blanket ban as happened after similar weather in 2010. December wheat on the Chicago Board of Trade WZ2 fell 8 cents or 0.9 percent to $8.95 a bushel by 1033 GMT, while November milling wheat in Paris BL2X2 stood 2.25 euros or 0.8 percent lower at 264.50 euros a tonne. While prices abated somewhat, analysts believe export taxes or quotas are still a possibility as Russia seeks...

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Germany's 2012 grains likely to rise by 6.7 percent

 Germany's 2012 crop of all types of grain is likely to rise by 6.7 percent on the year to around 44.7 million tonnes, the agriculture ministry said on Friday, welcoming the forecast as a counter to tight world supply and high prices. German grain prices are about 25 percent higher than this time in 2011 because of the rise in international prices caused by the drought in the US Midwest, the ministry said. US corn and soybean prices hit record highs this summer as scorching temperatures and a relentless drought ravaged crops in the US Wheat has also surged with the Black Sea drought and...

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Argentina's wheat crop benefited from record rains

 Argentina's 2012/13 wheat crop benefited from record rains in August although some flooding has hurt plants in key areas, the Agriculture Ministry said on Friday in its weekly crop report. Argentina is the world's No 6 wheat exporter and the top supplier to neighbouring Brazil. Government officials estimate production this season at 12.5 million tonnes, which would translate into about 6 million tonnes of exports under government trade caps. August's plentiful rains not only benefited wheat; they also contributed to moist soils as Argentine farmers start sowing corn and prepare to seed soybeans....

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Minister seeks paradigm shift in agriculture

Minister of Agriculture Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, has advocated a paradigm shift in the agriculture sector. He said agriculture must be run as a business and not as a development programme, if Nigeria must regain its lost glory as a major world producer and exporter of farm produce. The Minister spoke yesterday while delivering the 11th Public Lecture Series of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State. The lecture was titled: “Unlocking the Potential of Nigerian Agriculture”. Adesina said the focus of the lecture was to get Nigerians to understand that the days of treating agriculture like a Father Christmas sector were over.  “Nigeria...

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Fertilizer subsidy boosts agriculture - minister S M Chandrasena

Tennakoon KULASEKARA The carbonic fertilizer production project was launched on the direction of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to prevent the loss of human lives caused due to excessive use of chemical fertilizer and pesticides, said Agrarian Services and Wild Life Minister S M Chandrasena. Minister Chandrasena said so presiding over a progress review meeting of the Polonnaruwa District Carbonic Fertilizer Project at the 'Buddhi Mandapaya' Polonnaruwa recently. Members of 3,000 farmer families engaged in the project attended the meeting. Minister Chandrasena said President Rajapaksa who assumed office in 2005 introduced the fertilizer subsidy, provided a guaranteed price for paddy and exempted tractors and farm implements from Customs duties to help develop agriculture and make the country...

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Agriculture & poverty alleviation in Sierra Leone (1)

 John Pa Baimba Sesay Bangladesh, there was this crucial aspect of poverty alleviation through agricultural development, which they said, was “the fundamental goal we seek to realize through efficient and equitable service delivery to the farmers. To be specific, we are interested in that aspect of governance that deals with the formulation of policies relating to various services to the farmers and theirsuccessful implementation at the local level.” (Read: Volume IV of “Agriculture Governance In Bangladesh: A Survey Of Six Thanas”). Successive policy formulation will ensure a successful implementation of a given programme. Asia’s continuous growth is phenomenal and it is believed, that the “reduction in the incidence of rural poverty in Asia and the Pacific,...

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* Marxist party accuses Sri Lankan government of sacrificing the agriculture sector to promote tourism

Sept 01, Colombo: Sri Lanka's Marxist party Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) says the government is now sacrificing the agricultural sector, especially paddy cultivation, in order to promote tourism. JVP parliamentarian and head of the All Ceylon Farmers' Association, Anura Kumara Dissanayake says that the government's move to promote tourism in certain parts of the country has had an adverse impact on paddy cultivation. He pointed out that the government has planned to use tanks in the North Central Province that irrigate thousands of acres of paddy land for tourism promotional activities. He said the government has called for expressions...

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Keeping agriculture alive

PENELOPE KILBY THE Boorowa community is taking the bull by the horns and developing its own strategies to keep its youth working in local rural industries. Boorowa Business Association (BBA) member Leanne Croker, “Willow Dale”, with the support of the association, has developed the BBA wool harvesting scholarship to encourage rural skills and training within the Boorowa district. “It is vital we encourage young students with the ambition to become a shearer, to have a career in the wool harvesting industry, as this industry is a major lifeline to the Boorowa district and surrounding rural sector,” Mrs Croker said. Local businesses in the...

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