US scientists are trying to develop wheat strains resistant to a fungus that has spread from Africa to Iran, and is likely to show up soon in India and Pakistan. The 'Ug99' fungus, also known as 'stem rust', is likely to spread world-wide, either through windblown spores or carried inadvertently by people, food industry analysts said.

Aimed at increasing flow of investment

Agro processing projects worth 160 crore okayed

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Government has proposed a new Agro-Industrial Policy-2009 to be implemented through its nodal agency, the Punjab Agro Industries Corporation, for speeding up industrialisation in agriculture and agro-processing.

Monsanto Co said on Wednesday that it expects its US gross profit from sales of seeds and traits to double by 2012 from the 2008 level, while its international businesses should grow by 85 percent.

The introduction of Hybrid Cotton technology of Indian origin will not fetch any positive results and will actually instead will destroy the country

Agriculture sector of the country is incurring huge post harvest loss amounting to Taka 30,000 crore annually due to unplanned and haphazard collection and preservation of at least 15 food grains.

Thousands of families in the Southern province depending on the coir industry have lost their livelihood due to the shortage of coconut husks.

They said the fragmentation of coconut estates as housing blocks and tsunami sites has resulted in this state of affairs and that the devastation caused by the tsunami further aggravated the situation.

Sindh government has selected four consultant firms for initiating feasibility work for the "cluster development" of agro-based small and medium enterprises, sources told Business Recorder on Friday. They said that six companies had taken part in the bidding process, out of them four pre-qualified last Monday.

Clipboard in hand, Debra Anderson spent three hours one recent sunny morning trooping through a field of romaine lettuce looking for trouble.

Workers harvest romaine lettuce at a Church Brothers field in Huron, Calif. Increasingly, auditors below the federal level are inspecting produce fields and other farms.

Efforts are underway to start export of mangoes to the United States during the forthcoming season, as the main hurdle of non-availability of irradiation treatment has now been removed. It would be a major breakthrough as at present India enjoys a complete sway in exports of mangoes to the United States.

CHENNAI: In the next few months, the Tamil Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) will be implementing six new projects in joint venture in different districts at a total cost of Rs.107 crore, its general manager B. Ramakrishnan said on Monday.