Agriculture

• Wednesday, January 11th 2012 - 06:30 UTC

  Argentine farm leader says Agriculture minister is not qualified and knows little about droughts

  

  An Argentine farmers’ leader said that Agriculture Minister Norberto Yauhar who tried to downplay the seriousness of the current drought for crops, “is not qualified for the job, plus knows very little about droughts”.

• Tuesday, January 10th 2012 - 05:59 UTC

  Chile preparing forest restoration plan for ravaged areas of Torres del Paine Park

  

  As emergency workers finish extinguishing the last traces of fire in Torres del Paine National Park, now the Chilean government is beginning to look at the next critical phase in handling the disaster in Chile’s world-famous adventure destination.

• Tuesday, January 10th 2012 - 05:57 UTC

  Chilean per capita meat consumption has doubled in the last two decades

  

  In the last two decades Chileans consumption of different meats has doubled according to data from the Agriculture Policy and Studies Office, ODEPA, released this week. From the 39.6 kilos of 1991, meats consumption soared in 2011 to 84.2 kilos on average, and not taking into account fish and sea food.

• Tuesday, January 10th 2012 - 05:54 UTC

  FMD in Paraguay: 168 livestock sacrificed and major investigation into previous outbreak

  

  Paraguay veterinary services concluded Monday midday the termination of 168 livestock mostly belonging to a farm where an outbreak of foot and mouth disease was confirmed 2 January in the county of San Pedro to the centre north of the country.

• Tuesday, January 10th 2012 - 05:53 UTC

  Chavez and Ahmadinejad mock 'US imperialism' and joke about having an atomic bomb

  

  Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Venezuela's Hugo Chávez lavished each other with praise on Monday, mocked US disapproval and joked about having an atomic bomb at their disposal.

• Tuesday, January 10th 2012 - 05:49 UTC

  Bush fires in Patagonian Chubut out of control; several towns evacuated

  

  Authorities from the Argentine Patagonia province of Chubut issued a red alert on the fires that affect forest areas and decided to evacuate El Hoyo town, while 40 Chilean fire-fighters were expected to arrive to the mountain region to help put out the bush fires.

• Monday, January 9th 2012 - 06:49 UTC

  Argentine Farming emergency committee meets this week to address extreme drought

  

  The Argentine Agriculture Ministry has summoned the Committee on Farming Emergency and anticipated it would engage in “surgical work” in order to reach “all areas of the farming sector” suffering from extreme drought.

• Monday, January 9th 2012 - 06:47 UTC

  Chile buries seven fire-fighters; strong suspicion of criminal intent in forest fires

  

  The home of a Mapuche Indian leader in Chile was destroyed in a suspicious blaze in an area ravaged by forest fires, which officials say may have been caused by radical indigenous activists.

• Wednesday, January 4th 2012 - 06:26 UTC

  Dry weather, heat and lack of rain threaten Mercosur soybean crop

  

  Mercosur soybean production is expected to fall 2.9% after dry weather and heat damaged crops in Brazil and Paraguay and as conditions deteriorate in Argentina, Hamburg-based industry researcher Oil World said.

• Wednesday, January 4th 2012 - 06:06 UTC

  US is ending three-decade subsidies on corn ethanol

  

  The US government is ending a three-decade-old policy of subsidizing corn ethanol, but it appears that the loss of the 6 billion dollars annual benefit will have little impact on farmers.