THE European Union's soft wheat crop should reach 133.3 million tonnes this year.
The estimate is 200,000 tonnes lower than projections last month, but still 3 per cent above the 2011-12 season, according to French analyst Strategie Grains.
The revision was mainly because of a lower crop area forecast for wheat in Germany.
Wheat production in 2012-13 is expected to stay close to the level of 2011-12 as better harvests in the EU, China, the United States and Russia offset much smaller harvests in the Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
Forests saved
INDONESIA'S Forestry Ministry says it will conserve nearly half its share of Borneo island, which is covered with dense rainforest, to meet a presidential pledge to reduce gas emissions.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed a decree last week authorising conservation of at least 45 per cent of its share of Borneo, officials said, in a nation that is the world's third-worst emitter of greenhouse gases.
"We hope with the decree, Indonesia will be able to meet its target of reducing gas emissions by 26 per cent by 2020," Forestry Ministry secretary-general Hadi Daryanto said.
Indonesia's half of Borneo covers about 544,000sq km.
The island's forests are home to some of the world's most diverse wildlife, but they are under threat from mostly illegal plantations and logging.
River compo
THE Chinese Government will compensate residents along one of China's most scenic rivers whose livelihoods have been affected by new rules to protect the waterway, China Daily reports.
The regulations, which took effect on January 1, were adopted to protect the 437km Lijiang River in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.
The rules, which ban fishing, private rafting and restaurants along key-sections of the river, are expected to set an example of protecting over-exploited tourism resources in China.
According to a report by the autonomous region's Legislative Affairs Office last year, violations of environmental laws - such as wastewater pollution, sand quarrying and illegal logging - were rampant along some sections of the river, prompting the region's government to draw up the regulations.
Corn hit
CORN growers in Argentina, the world's second-largest exporter of the grain, may reap a third less than forecast after a drought damaged crops.
Corn farming groups represented by the Maizar association are expecting as little as 20 million tonnes of output this season, compared with estimates of a record 30 million tonnes in November before the dry spell began.
The La Nina weather pattern has brought excessive heat and dryness to crops in parts of Argentina, Brazil and Mexico in the past two months.
