Save Agriculture, Heal The Nation

THE HEALING of the nation's economy is in the ground. (Revelation 22; Ezekiel 42) Farming is the lifeblood of a nation. Much of man's sustenance comes from the ground. Oxygen, food, fruit water, oil, natural gas, wood, dye, paper, coal - are some of the things generated by or from the earth. Everything needed to sustain man can be found in the ground.

In Genesis 26, when the nation was experiencing ongoing famine and economic problems, God instructed Isaac not to go the path of the Philistines but, instead, till the land and sow, as an alternative. The Philistines today would be represented by the international lenders.

Many times, farming has been treated as the least within the society. It is a ministry that is put to the back. There needs to be a shake-up right now before it is too late. Farming is the first, foremost and most important profession in the Bible. With the crisis now facing the nation, agriculture should be getting a great deal more funding than it currently is. There needs to be visionaries in that ministry in order to bring changes. It would be interesting to see Phillip Paulwell move to that ministry.

There needs to be better relationships between the Government and the nation's farmers and farming community. There also needs to be basic and advanced courses in agriculture in the secondary-level schools. There should be special classes for farmers (open also to the regular members of the community) in each parish updating on the various kinds of insecticides, and particularly for new farmers, courses on the role of a farmer and the times and seasons to plant certain crops, the effects of current environmental issues on agriculture.

They should also learn the Biblical principles in farming. The Three Feasts must be observed, as well as the law of gleaning and how to prevent praedial larceny through giving.

get serious about farming

If the nation is serious about farming, then the time has come for them to have a farming network, to promote local farming. There should also be more competitions among schools and communities, as well as a farmers' hotline that not only answers pertinent questions, but will also educate them on Jamaica's agricultural history.

The nation needs to provide valid contacts that will foster business relationships - long and short term - with banks, schools, universities and colleges - locally and internationally.

If we really respect the agricultural community and, in particular, our farmers, how many of our nation's farmers have received national honours or awards?

In order to get the youth involved in farming and save the nation, we need to get the local communications groups to get on board with the technology. We also need to incorporate our local athletes and encourage them to promote the noble institution of farming, especially those athletes who are internationally successful.

There are so many opportunities concerning farming, this is the time to put agriculture to the forefront, especially as an alternative to the International Monetary Fund.

If the country is serious about tourism, then the time has come for us to get young, talented people with the 'Artisan Anointing' (Exodus 35), to beautify the nation once again. Places such as Port Royal, Harbour View, New Kingston, Barbican, Westmoreland, Spanish Town, Old Harbour and May Pen all need to have major facelifts.

There needs to be a meeting with the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica and civil society. We need to have a competition and get the communities involved - get them to come up with new landscaping designs and ideas and even breeds of plants and flowers. So when the tourists come to our island, they will see its beauty, not only in the landscaping, but also in the gifts and talents of the people that live here.

Finally, as we seek to build and rebuild this nation, we must recognise that before the building, there has to be clearing and ploughing of the land. After that, we will see the real builders - those who are not political - who have the nation at heart.

Steve Lyston is a biblical economics consultant and author of several books, including 'End Time Finance' and 'The New Millionaire'.

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Students flock to agriculture courses

THE number of students applying to study agriculture at universities across Australia has leapt by more than 15 per cent this year, fuelling hopes the rural skills crisis may soon end.

Victorian Higher Education Minister Peter Hall announced a 14 per cent rise in the number of students offered tertiary places to study agriculture in Victoria this year.

The figures come against a backdrop of a 40 per cent decline in students taking agricultural science degrees across the country since 2000 and fears a skills shortage is strangling a nationwide agricultural boom.

Jim Pratley, secretary of the Australian Council of Deans of Agriculture, said the good news about Victorian tertiary offers was being replicated nationally.

He said student demand for agriculture course entry at universities and colleges this year had jumped by between 15 and 20 per cent nationally.

"That's really encouraging because that's the first time we have had that for quite a few years," Professor Pratley said.

There are six jobs available for every new Australian agricultural graduate, as employers in fields as diverse as agronomy, genetics, rural finance, farm management and research and development cry out for skilled workers.

As agriculture emerges as the most likely boom industry to take the place of the mining sector, industry leaders fear the shortage of university-trained agricultural scientists, economists and managers is restricting the ability of farming industries to expand and progress.

In the 1980s, 23 university campuses around Australia provided agriculture and agricultural science degrees.

Only 10 remain, producing fewer than 750 agricultural graduates annually with the necessary skills to fill the 4000-plus advertised agriculture-related jobs each year.

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Agriculture census countdown begins

Farmers and ranchers in New Mexico will soon get the opportunity to have their voices heard by taking part in the 2012 Census of Agriculture. Conducted every five years by the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, the census is a complete count of all U.S. farms and ranches of all shapes and sizes, as well as the people who operate them.

“The census remains the only source of uniform, comprehensive agricultural data for every county in the nation,” said Longino Bustillos, acting director of National Agricultural Statistics Service’s New Mexico Field Office. “It’s a critical tool that gives farmers and ranchers a voice to influence decisions that will shape the future of their community, industry, and operation.”

The census looks at land use and ownership, farmer/rancher demographics, production practices, income, expenditures, and other topics. This information is used by a variety of entities that serve farmers and ranchers and rural communities, including everything from federal, state, and local governments to agribusinesses and trade associations. For example, legislators use the data when shaping farm policy, while agribusinesses factor it into their planning efforts.

“This year’s census is very important, especially given the toll that drought and the high cost of inputs have taken on the state’s farmers and ranchers over the last few years,” said New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte. “That’s all the more reason for the state’s agricultural producers to be counted so that we get an accurate snapshot of New Mexico agriculture.”

The last Census of Agriculture was conducted in 2007. That year, almost 21,000 farms and ranches were counted in New Mexico reporting over 43 million acres. The 2007 count was 38 percent more than the previous census in 2002 as more producers realize the importance of completing the census. The average age of New Mexico’s farm and ranch operators in 2007 was 59.6 years old, compared to 56.4 years in 2002. This telling information and thousands of other statistics are only available every five years as a direct result of farmer and ranchers responses to the census.

National Agricultural Statistics Service will mail out census forms next week to collect data for the 2012 calendar year. Completed forms are due to the USDA by February 4, 2013. Farmers and ranchers can fill out the census online via a secure website, www.agcensus.usda.gov, or return their form by mail. Federal law requires all agricultural producers to participate in the census and requires the Statistics Service to keep all individual information confidential.

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Agriculture Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson

"She has literally been fiddling while our agricultural heartland burns," Democratic Alliance spokeswoman Annette Steyn said in a statement.

"It is her responsibility to ensure adequate disaster relief funding transfers from the national budget to provinces ravaged by natural disasters."

She claimed Joemat-Pettersson had issued no instructions to secure relief from the national budget for provinces affected by fires.

The DA was also unhappy that Joemat-Pettersson had not called for an assessment of the extent of fire damage.

Steyn said this was "the last straw", and accused the minister of a number of failings in the past three weeks.

"[Joemat-Pettersson] implicitly condoned violence in the Western Cape by saying that she would instruct the National Prosecuting Authority to withdraw all charges... against those responsible for causing bloodshed in the wildcat [farm labour] strikes."

She also failed to reduce the total allowable catch for rock lobster, despite scientific evidence that the present quotas put the sustainability of the marine delicacy at risk.

"[Joemat-Pettersson] displayed a blank cheque attitude toward public money."

This was a reference to Public Protector Thuli Madonsela's finding that Joemat-Pettersson had violated the executive ethics code during a trip to Sweden in December 2009.

The business trip was combined with a family holiday, which started on December 23, at the end of her official trip.

Madonsela said on Monday the department's acting director general should recover about R150 000 the minister incurred for return flights for her two children and their au pair from Sweden to South Africa in January 2010.

The ministry's spokeswoman Palesa Mokomele responded to this on Tuesday.

"The perception by the media that the minister was extravagant is rejected with the contempt it deserves."

The ministry, however, welcomed Madonsela's recommendation of remedial action.

Mokomele said she would respond to Steyn's statement as soon as possible.

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Fly ash can help increase agricultural produce

In a major agricultural advancement, soil scientists at Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya (IGKV), Raipur have developed a technique to improve soil quality and production of various crops, fruits and vegetable by using fly ash. 

The solution discovered by the scientists of IGKV will simultaneously resolve the storage problem of fly ash and also increase the agricultural production by many folds, claimed Dr KK Sahu, principal scientist and public relation officer of the university. Fly ash is one of the residues generated as a by-product after combustion of coal and lignite in thermal power plants. Fly ash is slowly emerging as serious threat to human health and environmental hazard due to the absence of proper storage facilities, believe environmental experts.

Fly ash being discharged by about 11 power plants in Chhattisgarh is calculated as 9.7 million tonne per year which could raise storage problem in the country in coming year, said Dr Sahu, adding that use of fly ash in agriculture field concurrently resolve storage problem and also improve soil health.

Speaking about the benefits of using fly ash in cultivation of different crops, Dr Sahu, said fly ash contain various nutrients to nourish plants, elaborating that fly ash not only improve soil quality but also act as fertiliser. Use of the industrial residue along with nitrogen, phosphorus, potash and other requisite things in recommended quantity will greatly help the farmers to increase their production by many folds, asserter principal scientist.

Application of fly ash in farming will be emerged as boon for farmers of Chhattisgarh because its use in the field helps to lower the acidic nature of soil, informed the principal scientist of IGKV and further informed that about 60 per cent land area in the State is acidic in nature. Several parts of Korba are highly acidic in nature, he added. Besides improving soil quality and chemical properties of soil, the use of fly ash in the field will also improve production of various crops, vegetables and fruits, he claimed. With the application of fly ash, fertility of entisols (weekly developed soil) could be improved, said Dr Sahu.

Greatly impressed with the innovative research and positive results achieved by scientists of IGKV in using fly ash for agriculture purpose, General Manager of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Korba has assured to provide fly ash to farmers free of cost and also expressed his consent in providing transportation facility for the same. To spread awareness about the recent agricultural break through, IGKV in association with NTPC, Korba recently organised a day-long Farmer Fair at Lakhanpur, Katghora. Dr Sahu further informed that the fair was attended by scientists of IGKV along with general manager of NTPC, Korba, additional general manager, deputy general manager and other officials of NTPC, Korba. During the fair, the scientists threw light on the pros along with the cons of using fly ash on the agricultural fields. The fair was attended by over 300 farmers.

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Investments key for long-term resilience, rebuilding agriculture in Haiti – UN agency

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has stressed that investments are crucial to help rehabilitate Haiti’s agricultural sector in the wake of various natural disasters this year that caused colossal damage to the farming and fishing industries.

“If we don’t invest today, we will pay the price tomorrow,” said Director-General José Graziano da Silva.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Haitian President Michel Martelly at FAO Headquarters in Rome yesterday, Mr. Graziano da Silva pledged to support Haiti through interventions that address the country’s immediate crisis situations as well as the root causes of its food insecurity and poverty.

FAO and the Haitian Government are currently seeking $74 million over the next 12 months to help long-term resilience in the country. The funds would be used to rehabilitate irrigation schemes and rural access roads; restore local seed production; provide seeds, fertilizer and agricultural tools to small farmers; support inland fisheries; and vaccinate livestock, among other activities.

The funds would also go towards helping farmers plant crops for the next planting season which starts in December.

Mr. Graziano da Silva said the objective is “to make Haitians, especially farmers, more resilient to climate and other challenges.”

Last month, Hurricane Sandy caused significant damage to Haiti’s crops, land, livestock, fisheries and rural infrastructures. It killed 60 people and flooded, destroyed or damaged some 18,000 homes, as well as hospitals, schools and public buildings.

It was the third disaster to hit Haiti in the space of a few months. Between May and June, a severe drought struck at the beginning of the critical spring cropping season, and in August, Tropical Storm Isaac battered the country, displacing thousands of people. Together, the three disasters left two million Haitians at risk of food insecurity and resulted in losses of $254 million to the agricultural sector.

“If we don’t intervene quickly, over 60 per cent of the population deriving their livelihood from agriculture will be put at risk,” said FAO Assistant Director-General for Technical Cooperation Laurent Thomas.

Out of the $74 million sought, FAO has so far secured $2.7 million, with indications of a further $5 million-$6 million from different donors. The agency will also implement short- and medium-term projects in response to the current crisis, ranging from immediate relief activities to interventions that have a longer-term economic and environmental impact.

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'I really hope people will support our beef industry': Agriculture Minister amid beef recall

Linda Hoang, CTV Edmonton 

More beef products and stores have been added to a growing nation-wide beef recall over concerns of E. coli contamination from products by Alberta-based XL Foods Inc. But on Saturday, Alberta’s Agriculture Minister pleaded with consumers to continue to support the beef industry.

Co-op stores are the latest in a growing list of retailers that may be carrying beef products containing E. coli.

In an effort to restore consumer confidence, Alberta’s Agriculture Minister on Saturday bought beef at a Co-op store in Camrose, Alta.

“We have a serious problem with one plant. It’s a big plant, but there are many other plants and there all kinds of safe beef everywhere around the province and I really hope people will support our beef industry,” said Verlyn Olson, the province’s agriculture minister.

On Saturday, XL Food Inc. issued a voluntary recall of “whole muscle cuts” of beef, including steaks and roasts and more store names carrying the recalled products was also released including Co-op, Wal-Mart, Metro, Food Basics, Steakhouse Angus Select and a number of stores in Quebec.

It was the latest in at least eight recalls over that have been issued since Sept. 16 and more than 250 products have been recalled, a number that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency says will likely grow.

Click here for the full list of recalled products.

So far there have been nine reported cases of E. coli-poisoning in Alberta – four of which are linked to steaks sold at a north east Edmonton Costco. The meat came from XL Foods in Brooks, Alta., but health officials are still not sure whether the bacteria was picked up at that plant, or at the Costco store.

The CFIA says tracking the source of the bacteria can be very difficult – and that meat isn’t the only source of E. coli.

“We have had recalls associated with E. coli in leafy greens, we’ve seen it in apple juice, we’ve seen it in a number of different products, dairy and meat,” said Dr. Brian Evans with the CFIA.

On Thursday the agency suspended XL Food’s operating license that will remain in effect untilt he company meets requirements set out by the CFIA.

“To date the company has not properly implemented agreed upon corrective actions and has not presented an accepted plan to address long term issues,” Evans said.

Products at the plant are under CFIA “detention and control” and will be released after being tested for E. coli.

Earlier in the week, the U.S. had banned imports from XL and pulled the company’s beef from stores in 30 states.

E. coli fears have local cattle ranchers worried. Cattle prices have already dropped considerably – with cows now selling for hundreds less than they were just a few days ago.

“They’re falling, falling fast,” said Ivan Potts with Sekura Auctions. “And it’s going to fall faster for the cattle industry across the province.”

The CFIA says if you have concerns about the beef you've bought - throw it out or take it back to the store, use a meat thermometer to cook your beef to a safe temperature - for ground beef that's 71 C, 160 F - and avoid cross-contamination with food.

With files from Amanda Anderson

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Tractors Revolutionise Agriculture in Chad

By François Djékombé

N’DJAMENA, Sep 18 2012 (IPS) - Chad has more than 400,000 square kilometres of arable land, but poor rainfall and a reliance on basic agricultural techniques have left the country with a grain deficit in the past two years. The government is turning to mechanisation in a bid to improve harvests. Chad became an oil producer in 2003. But despite the financial rewards raked in from this, the northern and eastern parts of this Sahelian country have suffered famine since 2010.

Chadian President Idriss Déby Itno, whose fourth term began in 2011, has put youth and the countryside at the head of his priority list. He wants to put an end to what he has called “the hellish cycle of famine”. But the cereal deficit has stubbornly remained at more than 500,000 tonnes a year since 2010.

A factory to assemble tractors was opened in N’Djamena in 2009.

The government has made tractors available to smallholder farmers to boost production in the 2012-2013 growing season. As part of the National Food Security Programme (PNSA), some 450,000 hectares of land were expected to be ploughed between mid-June and the end of August and a harvest of 900,000 tonnes of grain is expected.

A total of 914 tractors will till the fields at a cost of 19 dollars per hectare, said Yaya Mahamat Outman, responsible for monitoring and evaluation for PNSA, at the launch of the growing season in April 2012. The receipts from the ploughing will raise more than 8.4 million dollars, which will serve to keep the programme running, he added.

The N’Djamena-Fara district, just 40 kilometres northwest of the capital, N’Djamena, is one of the country’s prime agricultural regions. While fishing and livestock have been the principal economic activities of residents of N’Djamena-Fara, that has changed with the arrival of the tractors.

“With a tractor, even the laziest person can have a farm,” joked Othniel Djimadoumngar, one of the tractor operators assigned to work here. In total, five tractors are working in this area. Djimadoumngar ploughs between seven and eight hectares a day, while it would take several days to prepare even one hectare manually or with an ox.

But keeping the machines running has been a problem. “When a tractor breaks down, we have to fix it ourselves. When we call N’Djamena, no one responds. Even getting hold of base dressing, like NPK (fertiliser added to the soil while ploughing), is not easy. Sometimes you have to go to Douguia, a town 30 kilometres away, to buy them,” said Patrice Allarabaye, head of agriculture in the N’Djamena-Fara district.

Gisèle Bénaïdara Djasnebeye, an agriculture advisor, told IPS that her role in the district is to help producers to achieve the best yields.

“What you see here is a demonstration plot. We teach producers how to transplant rice. You always need to transplant in a grid of 25 by 25 centimetres, or 20 by 20, using a measuring tape. With this technique, if the plot is properly weeded and looked after, a farmer can harvest as many as 90 100-kilo sacks of paddy rice per hectare,” Djasnebeye told IPS.

As the ploughing season draws to a close across the country, some 400 hectares of land will have been tilled in N’Djamena-Fara this year thanks to the tractors. The smallholders paid cash for the service. The rainfall has also been good. If the predictions are accurate, farmers in the district will harvest around 36,000 bags of paddy rice this season.

PNSA’s work complements that of the National Office for Rural Development, established in the 1960s and now the largest and oldest government structure to support farmers.

PNSA deploys extension workers and agronomists in the field to support farmers. Each year, it buys up stocks of staple foodstuffs direct from growers and resells them at subsidised prices during famine or the annual lean period, which runs from the end of June until the first of the harvest is reaped in the latter part of August.

This year it built up a reserve of more 20,000 tonnes of grain.

While rice farming, livestock and fishing are key economic activities in N’Djamena-Fara, it is also a major centre for growing fruit and vegetables. Thanks to the Logone river which flows through the district, many vegetables are available throughout the year, such as cabbage, cucumbers, spinach and carrots, as well as different kinds of fruit.

But N’Djamena-Fara, like many parts of Chad, has difficulties getting this bounty to the capital, despite its proximity. Most of the produce is delivered to Cameroonian merchants who cross the Logone which separates N’Djamena-Fara from Goulfé, a border city.

Mahamat Moussa Kach, sub-prefect of N’Djamena-Fara, told IPS: “We are so close to the capital, just 40 kilometres away, but paradoxically we are cut off from the rest of Chad.” He hopes that an 18-kilometre section of unpaved road will be tarred, as promised by the government, to allow them to transport their produce to the capital.

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Famers despair over future of agriculture

By Rhiana Whitson (ABC Gippsland) 

Gippsland farmers painted a dire picture of life on the farm at a National Food Plan hearing in Traralgon this week.

Farmers and those involved in Gippsland's food industry voiced concerns over the power of the supermarket duopoly, over-regulation and skill shortages.

The Federal Government's National Food Plan taskforce is touring the country to get feedback on the plan's green paper, which will form the basis of the Federal Government's official position on the future of Australia's food industry.

The National Food Plan aims to safeguard future food supplies, and consider the environment, jobs, food processing, development and to sketch out a plan on how best to target a growing Asian market.

"The National Food Plan is the Federal Government's first attempt to bring together all of its policies in the food system into one place," explains Trish Stone, Assistant Secretary for the National Food Plan Taskforce.

"Our neighbours in Asia, are looking for healthy green, high quality foods, that's something Australia is really well positioned to provide," she says.

Alex Arbuthnott, chair of Agribusiness Gippsland, says the development of a National Food Plan is a step in the right direction - albeit a little late.

"We really should have seen this happen about five years ago," says Mr Arbuthnott.

"The Australian farmer at the moment is experiencing very, very difficult conditions and particularly with the price for milk," he says.

"The worst feature about the low price of milk in the supermarket is we're conditioning our consumer to be paying that low price for milk."

Add supermarket discounting to the recent poor seasonal conditions, high export prices and a high Australian dollar, and Gippsland farmers are struggling, Mr Arbuthnott says.

But Mr Arbuthnott is unsure whether regulated prices are the answer to the food sector's woes.

Instead, he says the Federal Government needs to help to develop a more creative strategy in marketing the sector to people at home and abroad, provide more support to farmers and to negotiate a better trade agreement with Asia.

"The reality is in a wonderful country like Australia everybody takes good food at pretty reasonable prices for granted," Mr Arbuthnott says.

Denison beef farmer Geoff Stephens says farmers are being held to ransom by the big supermarkets.

"You've got to fall into line or fall out."

He welcomes the development of a National Food Plan but doesn't expect to see changes happen overnight.

"I hope that the Government realises that farmers have to make a profit, we can't go on being below cost production agents in the chain."

Rosedale farmer Gerald Laws has more than 50 years experience of life on the land in Gippsland.

He says the agriculture sector has been slowly devalued and fears the farming industry will fall apart.

"It might be two decades down the line, but it will arrive here."

Have your say on the future of Australia's food industry by making a public submission to the National Food Plan by September 30.

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Rwanda: Good Tidings From Agriculture Sector

There was some good news from Parliament last week. On Thursday, Prime Minister Damien Habumuremyi presented the state of the agricultural sector before deputies and Senators. This is a sector that employs over 80 per cent of the populations.

Overall there was a marked increase in crop and animal production stemming off food scarcity recently witnessed in some countries in the region. Land consolidation, hillside and marshland irrigation and the use of fertilizers were cited as some of the key drivers that were behind the increase in agriculture production.

Consolidated land increased from 250ha in 2010 to the present 624ha while 54 per cent of the farmers currently use fertilizers.

Production of some crops like maize and Irish-potatoes has since doubled; Irish potato production increased from 8 tonnes per hectare in 2007 to 16 tonnes per hectare today. There was good progress in the livestock sector with increased milk production largely boosted by the One Cow per Family Programme.

The use of marsh land for crop production has also been a big boost to the sector. Maize production is expected to hit its peak, especially in the Eastern Province where marsh land was optimally utilised.

These are enviable developments in a sector that has largely attracted little investment from the private sector and the glaring reluctance by banks to finance agricultural projects that are considered risky undertakings.

Sustaining this growth calls for sustained efforts in designing policies that will entice more investments, especially from the private sector.

These should be policies that should ensure that agriculture sector is run as a viable business and not only for subsistence production.

Policy makers will have to play a key role for this to be achieved. Recently Mt Meru, an oil company, inaugurated an edible oil refining plant in the Eastern Province district of Kayonza. This is one of the biggest investments to be recorded in agriculture by the private sector.

Swayed by the friendly investment climate in the country and soils that are condusive for oil seed production, company owners are optimistic but say more needs to be done.

For the plant to operate at its maximum capacity, they say, it will require sustained supply of oil seed. They say the plant has the potential to benefit thousands of farmers if only the right policies are put in place.

In Tanzania where the company runs a similar business, the country's parliament has put in place policies that have helped boost production of oil seeds and incomes for small scale farmers.

In the 2011-2012 budgets, the Tanzanian government decided to levy zero rate VAT on edible oil made using local oil seeds. This means that the local manufacturer has a price advantage of 18 per cent over imported palm oil and can therefore, give a better price to local farmers who, in return enhance production of seeds.

This move led to a doubling of production in just one year. This consequently resulted in better monetary returns for thousands of farmers and a boost to the local oil industry.

Such sector friendly policies, in addition to other programmes like irrigation, agricultural mechanization, post-harvest management, strengthening cooperatives, crop intensification, value addition and financing, will no doubt boost the sector that is vital to the national economy.

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Is Agriculture Leading the Way Out of the Recession?

ANALYSIS - Against what appears to be all the economic trends, the global agriculture sector seems to be showing a strength and even punching above its weight during the current global financial problems, writes, Chris Harris.

According to a new report from the USDA, The 2008-09 Recession and Recovery, US agriculture was better positioned than most US industries entering the recession, was less affected by the recession than most other US industries, and is well positioned to continue to do well in the years ahead.

And it is not only in the US that agriculture appears to be doing better than other industries.

In the UK, a recent report from the National Farmers Union showed that agriculture contributed £85 billion to the UK economy last year, while helping to keep some 3.5 million people in work.

The NFU report, Farming Delivers, says that because of its role as the driving force behind so much economic activity, farming offers huge potential to the economy as a whole.

The agricultural sector around the world is finding itself in a strong position largely because of international trade. With developing nations growing in strength, populations growing and wealth in these countries growing, there is an ever-growing demand for food.

In this respect, countries in the developed world that have been hit by the recession will be able to use food and agriculture as a major means of escaping from the straightened times.

The outlook report from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN and the OECD said: "A stronger than expected agriculture commodity supply response last year, particularly in developed countries and much lower oil prices has resulted in significantly lower commodity prices from 2007-8 highs".

It continues: "Despite the significant impact of the global financial crisis and economic downturn on all sectors of the economy, agriculture is expected to be relatively better off, as a result of the recent period of relatively high incomes and a relatively income-inelastic demand for food."

The report focuses on the resilience of agriculture to economic recession and says that as the recovery begins, a reduction in agricultural prices and a fall in production and consumption are unlikely.

This resilience of the agricultural sector is reflected in the USDA report that shows that the growing importance of developing countries as markets for US agricultural exports, strong balance sheets in US agriculture going into and coming out of the recession, healthy financial institutions supporting agriculture, and prospects for a continued low real trade-weighted dollar exchange rate are supporting relatively strong growth in the farm sector.

US agricultural exports, especially those to developing countries, benefited from stronger world growth, the report says.

Approximately 22 per cent of US agricultural production is exported, accounting for almost 10 per cent of total US merchandise exports.

These economic and financial factors, along with underlying gains in agricultural research and productivity and in expanding and improving access to markets for farm products, suggest a strong outlook for US agriculture as US and global economies continue their recovery, the USDA says.

The USDA said that the latest recession has been longer and deeper than anything the US has seen since the 1930s.

While both developed and developing countries showed declines in 2008 and 2009, developed countries went into a severe recession whereas the developing countries only had a growth slowdown.

Real world trade fell by 11 per cent in 2009, and developed country exports declined nearly 13 per cent.

Those countries reliant on exporting expensive durable consumer and business goods, such as Western Europe and Japan, were hit especially hard.

US agricultural exports, while not affected as greatly as non-agricultural exports, were not immune to the impact of global recession. Real US agricultural exports fell by two per cent in 2009 after increasing by 5.3 per cent in 2008.

Exports of high value products, such as fresh beef and dairy, fell six and 39 per cent, respectively.

However, in 2011, US agricultural exports exceeded $136 billion. The growth in post-recession exports was about twice the historical average between 1998 and 2007, the decade preceding the recession and developing countries' share of US agricultural exports rose to more than 60 per cent in 2011.

The world economic recovery was underway in 2011 and is likely to continue in 2012 and beyond, with developing countries, including those in Asia, Latin America, and Africa, leading the way, while developed countries will recover at a much slower pace.

The crisis in the Eurozone continues and is likely to continue for some time, further dampening growth prospects in developed countries.

However, the global agricultural sector is leading the way and if it can continue to find and build on new export markets it will help to strengthen the economies that have been hit hardest.

However, financial institutions will also have to lend their support to the growing global trade in agricultural products and agriculture could be the key to unlocking much of the finance that has been held back from the markets.

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Mechanism That Gives Plants 'Balance' Discovered

By: Michigan State University   

When a plant goes into defense mode in order to protect itself against harsh weather or disease, that's good for the plant, but bad for the farmer growing the plant. Bad because when a plant acts to defend itself, it turns off its growth mechanism.

But now researchers at Michigan State University, as part of an international collaboration, have figured out how plants can make the "decision" between growth and defense, a finding that could help them strike a balance -- keep safe from harm while continuing to grow.

Writing in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Sheng Yang He, an MSU professor of plant biology, and his team found that the two hormones that control growth (called gibberellins) and defense (known as jasmonates) literally come together in a crisis and figure out what to do.

"What we've discovered is that some key components of growth and defense programs physically interact with each other," he said. "Communication between the two is how plants coordinate the two different situations.

We now know where one of the elusive molecular links is between growth and defense."

This is important because now that scientists know that this happens, they can work to figure out how to "uncouple" the two, He added.

"Perhaps at some point we can genetically or chemically engineer the plants so they don't talk to each other that much," He said. "This way we may be able to increase yield and defense at the same time."

In this way, He said plants are a lot like humans. We only have a certain amount of energy to use, and we have to make wise choices on how to use it.

"Plants, like people, have to learn to prioritize," he said. "You can use your energy for growth, or use it for defense, but you can't do them both at maximum level at the same time."

The work was done on two different plants: rice, a narrow-leafed plant, and Arabidopsis, which has a broader leaf. This was significant because it demonstrated that this phenomenon occurs in a variety of plants.

He was one of the lead investigators on an international team of scientists that studied the issue. Other participating institutions included the Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Hunan Agricultural University, the University of Arkansas, Duke University, Yale University and Penn State University.

Funding was provided by the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Courtesy agrihunt.com

Agriculture, industry thriving side by side in Gujarat: Modi

Ahmedabad: Outlining various facets of development in Gujarat, Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the state has struck a balance between agricultural and industrial growth.

"At a time when India's agriculture is not growing beyond 3 per cent, Gujarat's agriculture is growing at 11 per cent, despite the fact that unlike the rest of the country, the state is not blessed with perennial rivers," Modi said addressing NRIs across 12 cities in the US through a video-conferencing session.

The Chief Minister said Gujarat has achieved "balanced growth" in sectors like agriculture, industry and services. Speaking about agricultural growth, Modi told the overseas audience that the agricultural income has shot up to Rs 96,000 crore as compared to Rs 14,700 crore a decade ago, with farmers being the major beneficiaries.

"From 108 lakh hectares of agriculture land in 2001, Gujarat now has 135 lakh hectares," Modi said adding that he would not let the agriculture land get reduced.

This is for the first time that agriculture and industry are thriving side by side on such a vast scale, he asserted.

Modi told them that Gujarat's milk production has risen by 68 per cent and the state is taking great strides in cotton production. In 2001, Gujarat produced 23 lakh bales of cotton, but today the figure stands at 1.23 crore bales (one bale equals 170 kg).

Modi said Gujarat was surging ahead in the manufacturing sector as well and was all set to turn into Asia's auto-hub. Even American auto giant Ford is coming to Gujarat, he said.

While addressing the gathering, he pointed out that American companies had invested Rs 15,000 crore in Gujarat and Canada had been working with the state in close coordination for quite some time.

Modi invited the audience to visit the state during the upcoming 2013 'Vibrant Gujarat' Summit and the Uttarayan festivities.

Modi also spoke about Gujarat's advancement in the field of solar energy. He claimed that the state has dedicated 600 MW to the national grid, while the rest of the country is producing only 120 MW of solar energy.

The solar park set up at Charanka will be the Asia's largest, Modi said.

He also claimed that the innovative canal-top solar power project was beneficial in saving about one crore litres of water per kilometer from evaporation annually and would save 16 per cent of electricity and land for farmers.

Original article here