July 30, 2009
Australia launches new programme to boost grain output
Australia's agricultural minister Tony Burke has announced a minimum three-year programme aimed at boosting productivity in the grain industry.
The programme is a joint effort by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE), and the Grains Research and Development Corporation.
The United Nations had estimated that global food demand would double over the next 20 years. ABARE chief economist Jamie Penm also said some factors behind the grain industry's slowing productivity include funding cuts to R&D and El Nino weather patterns.
These factors threaten a predicted two-percent increase in farm exports to US$32 billion this financial year, Penm said.
