India’s Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has developed 41 new crop varieties under its nuclear agriculture programme
Crops
Japan develops drought-resistant rice variety
Japanese biotechnologists have developed a rice plant with deeper roots that can sustain high yields even in droughts that wipe out conventional rice crops
New dimensions to oil palm production
Southeast Asia, currently the hub of oil palm industry with Indonesia and Malaysia accounting for about 85-90 per cent of the worldwide production, needs to introduce innovative production methods for better gains
Chinese imports of Australian wheat on the rise
With unseasonal rains in May destroying a substantial part of Chinese wheat crops, the country has rushed into the Australian wheat market, buying close to 1.5mn tonnes of the grain in the last four months