CHINA plans to speed up innovation of agricultural technologies to boost output and food security.
It comes as the world's most populous country tries to offset problems including environmental degradation and the loss of farmland and water resources.
Agricultural technology is the "inevitable" choice to help the nation resolve resource and environmental constraints, the central government said in this year's first policy document published last week.
The document showed Beijing would ensure that spending on agricultural technologies grows much faster than overall fiscal revenue.
Chen Xiwen, general director of the Office of the Central Rural Work Leading Group, said China didn't have much room to increase the amount of land under cultivation, and had a limited water supply.
"We must rely on increasing unit yield but using more fertiliser and pesticide is not a sustainable solution," he said. Key innovations include genetically modified seeds and increased irrigation efficiency, the document showed.
Farmers drown
TWO farmers drowned when they tried to rescue their stock from floodwaters in Fiji last week.
They were among seven people to die during the widespread flooding. One victim, a 26-year-old man, died while bathing in the river, ignoring appeals by authorities urging people to stay out of flood-affected waters. A family of four was buried alive when a landslide engulfed its house after days of torrential rain.
Rice slump
THAI rice exports could fall by more than 40 per cent to near-record lows, on the back of uncompetitive prices and government buying above market rates, a top industry official said last week.
Thai Rice Exporters' Association president Korbsook Iamsuri said the move could potentially put Thailand below Vietnam and India as the world's top exporter of rice.
Thai rice exports reached a record 10.6 million tonnes last year but are likely to fall to six million tonnes this year.
Tsunami debris
AN American man claims he has found a large black float from a Japanese oyster farm washed up on a Washington state beach. The float is believed to be among the first debris from the tsunami that hit Japan last year. The float is believed to have come from an oyster farm near Sendai. Debris is expected to reach the coast of Washington state in the next year or two.
Mexico hopeful
WIDESPREAD drought in Mexico that is forecast to intensify won't hurt the agricultural sector more than it did last year.
Agriculture minister Francisco Mayorga said, "I don't think that the drought's continuation could cause agricultural production to plummet," he said. Increased plantings in non-drought areas are expected to lift corn yields.
