Archive

BY SWINEETHA DIAS WICKRAMANAYAKA
THE INDIAN Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) is conducting laboratory and field evaluations into cow urine, to prove whether it can so effectively ward off plant diseases, it could become a useful product for Indian farmers. India’s minister of state for agriculture, Hukumdeo Narayan Yadav, has told the Indian parliament that initial tests have shown it can protect plant health.…

BY MARK ROWE
THE RUSSIAN agriculture minister Alexei Gordeyev is flying to the United States later this month (May) to secure a formal end the poultry dispute between the two countries. Russia banned US chicken imports last year over health concerns.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A SUCCESSFUL trial of electronic tags for livestock has been announced by the European Commission, which has inspired a proposed regulation that would create a unified system for accurately monitoring farm animals across the European Union (EU).

Brussels officials have unveiled in Italy the results of the IDEA project (Electronic IDentification of Animals), a one million animal trial spanning France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A FIRST European conference is being staged – in June – to discuss the latest form of food production that seeks to wed traditional techniques with new technology and analysis. Precision livestock production involves the computer processing of information about single or small groups of animals, so that inputs and welfare are matched to achieve perfect meat production return.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
DEVELOPED countries have agreed to enter into formal talks with developing countries, if poorer food exporting states encounter problems complying with any new food health restrictions imposed by richer importing trading partners. The commitment was framed in a Canadian proposal to the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) sanitary and phytosanitary measures committee under the ongoing Doha development round talks.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
NEW regulations controlling live exports have been ordered by the European Commission, which state that from October 1 reinforced checks must be made on the health of animals in transit at their exit from the EU and where they are initially unloaded in an importing country.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
AN UNUDUAL and significant announcement was made by the European Commission earlier this month (April 2nd) and it should be required reading for any-one who thinks that Brussels is frightened of France when it comes to farming matters.…

BY SWINEETHA DIAS WICKRAMANAYAKA
ASIAN Paints, the Indian colour multinational has been rated the best “small” company in India in 2002 by the financial magazine Asiamoney; (‘small’ companies are those with market capitalisation under US$500 million). Ashwin Dani, Asian Paints (India) managing director said: “This is reflection of our continuous process of being transparent and maintaining high standards of corporate governance.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE TENDER for the construction of a new 20,000 tonne steel shelter for the remnants of Chernobyl’s reactor 4 may be issued this year, according to Vince Novak, director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s nuclear safety department.…

BY RICHARD HURST
ZAMBIA’S Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC), the supplier of electricity to the country’s mining industry, has embarked on a diversification growth programme, aimed at increasing its role in the Zambian and other southern African electricity markets through appropriate investments.…