Industry - Agriculture latest news

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A heat wave is expected to grip most of California through the rest of the week, prompting state officials to urge energy conservation and open cooling centers.

A dietary cocktail that includes a type of omega-3 fatty acid can improve memory and learning in gerbils, according to the latest study from MIT researchers that points to a possible beverage-based treatment for Alzheimer's and other brain diseases. The combination of supplements, which contains three compounds normally found in the bloodstream, is now being tested in Alzheimer's patients.

The humble tomato could be a suitable carrier for an oral vaccine against Alzheimer's disease, according to HyunSoon Kim from the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB) in Korea and colleagues from Digital Biotech Inc. and the Department of Biological Science at Wonkwang University.

Mothers who take fish oil supplements during the last trimester of their pregnancy could be reducing the risk of their child going on to develop asthma, claims a study published today in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (9th July, Volume 87, Issue 7). The research, carried out by a team from Denmark as part of the EC-funded EARNEST project ,[1] traced the children born to mothers who had taken part in a trial conducted in1990.

Foodgrain production in the country is estimated to have gone up by 6.16 per cent to 230.67 million tons in 2007-08, compared to 217.28 mt in the previous year, according fourth advance estimates released by the government today.

India has scrapped import duty on raw cotton and withdrawn export incentives to boost domestic stocks, it was announced Wednesday.

Prices of domestic cotton are expected to decline following the abolition of customs duty on import of cotton and drawback benefits on exports of raw cotton, a top government official said.

Monheim, July 2008 - Bayer CropScience's active ingredient tembotrione has been approved for use in Brazil. This means that the new corn herbicide Soberan® (tembotrione + isoxadifen) can be launched i... [WebWire - Wednesday, July 09, 2008]

An upswing in Indian vanilla prices is likely with shrinking domestic production and reports of a shortfall in the crop in Madagascar, the main global producer of vanilla.

On the back of favourable weather condition and higher support price, the country's foodgrain production is estimated to have increased by 6 per cent to record 230.7 million tonnes in 2007-08 crop year.