(Repeats to fix headline)
BEIJING, May 17 (Reuters) - An earthquake that killed at least 29,000 people in China also badly hurt livestock and crops in Sichuan province, and disinfection teams are spreading out to prevent more damage, officials said on Saturday.
The earthquake killed about 792,000 of Sichuan's estimated 60 million pigs, Li Jinxiang, head of the veterinary department at the Ministry of Agriculture, told reporters.
However, the number of breeding sows nationwide is up on last year, which could help stave off inflation, he told Reuters.
Rescue work is still going on for thousands buried in rubble after the May 12 quake, but with bodies in mass graves and water supplies disrupted, efforts now also include disinfection campaigns to prevent disease spreading among animals and people.
Poultry made up most of the 12.5 million birds and livestock killed by Monday's quake.
The quake has damaged infrastructure just ahead of the hot, humid summer, the peak season for diseases such as swine flu or blue ear pig disease, which decimated the hog population in 2007.
"Preventing disease is one of our largest responsibilities," Li said at a news conference in Beijing.
Li told Reuters the breeding sow population was now about 20 percent more nationwide than it was this time last year, when disease and poor profits discouraged breeding, helping to feed inflation which is now running at a nearly 12-year high.
The quake badly damaged fish farms and about 15 percent of vegetable production in the afflicted areas near the epicentre, the officials said. As many as 50,000 greenhouses were damaged.
Sichuan accounts for nearly 15 percent of China's rapeseed production, nearly 7 percent of summer grains and 5 percent of vegetables.
Although a national surplus of fertiliser should be able to make up for fertiliser plants damaged in industrial towns such as Shifang, damage to irrigation infrastructure would be harder to overcome, the officials said. Sichuan is releasing water from reservoirs to reduce pressure on weakened dams.
"Some rice paddies may have to be turned into dry fields this summer," said Wei Chaoan, vice minister of agriculture.
"Maybe, as this develops, many other problems will appear, including some we don't know about yet." (Reporting by Lucy Hornby; editing by Philippa Fletcher) ((lucy.hornby@thomsonreuters.com; +86 10 6627-1269; Reuters Messaging: lucy.hornby.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: QUAKE AGRICULTURE
BEIJING, May 17 (Reuters) - An earthquake that killed at least 29,000 people in China also badly hurt livestock and crops in Sichuan province, and disinfection teams are spreading out to prevent more damage, officials said on Saturday.
The earthquake killed about 792,000 of Sichuan's estimated 60 million pigs, Li Jinxiang, head of the veterinary department at the Ministry of Agriculture, told reporters.
However, the number of breeding sows nationwide is up on last year, which could help stave off inflation, he told Reuters.
Rescue work is still going on for thousands buried in rubble after the May 12 quake, but with bodies in mass graves and water supplies disrupted, efforts now also include disinfection campaigns to prevent disease spreading among animals and people.
Poultry made up most of the 12.5 million birds and livestock killed by Monday's quake.
The quake has damaged infrastructure just ahead of the hot, humid summer, the peak season for diseases such as swine flu or blue ear pig disease, which decimated the hog population in 2007.
"Preventing disease is one of our largest responsibilities," Li said at a news conference in Beijing.
Li told Reuters the breeding sow population was now about 20 percent more nationwide than it was this time last year, when disease and poor profits discouraged breeding, helping to feed inflation which is now running at a nearly 12-year high.
The quake badly damaged fish farms and about 15 percent of vegetable production in the afflicted areas near the epicentre, the officials said. As many as 50,000 greenhouses were damaged.
Sichuan accounts for nearly 15 percent of China's rapeseed production, nearly 7 percent of summer grains and 5 percent of vegetables.
Although a national surplus of fertiliser should be able to make up for fertiliser plants damaged in industrial towns such as Shifang, damage to irrigation infrastructure would be harder to overcome, the officials said. Sichuan is releasing water from reservoirs to reduce pressure on weakened dams.
"Some rice paddies may have to be turned into dry fields this summer," said Wei Chaoan, vice minister of agriculture.
"Maybe, as this develops, many other problems will appear, including some we don't know about yet." (Reporting by Lucy Hornby; editing by Philippa Fletcher) ((lucy.hornby@thomsonreuters.com; +86 10 6627-1269; Reuters Messaging: lucy.hornby.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: QUAKE AGRICULTURE
(Updates with new quotes, details; changes byline)
By Terry Wade
LIMA, May 16 (Reuters) - European and Latin American leaders called for action to tackle surging food prices and global warming at a summit in Peru on Friday, despite differences over biofuels and free trade.
Leftist Bolivian President Evo Morales said he feared the poor could suffer as his regional counterparts rush to sign free-trade deals with Europe, and others warned of a looming world food emergency, which some attribute in part to greater use of biofuels.
"If the crisis deepens, hundreds of millions of people will be threatened by hunger," Peruvian President Alan Garcia told the fifth gathering of heads of state from Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.
The European Union and Brazil, the world's top ethanol exporter, back biofuels, but many Latin American countries blame them for pushing up food prices and causing hunger in a region where a third of the population lives in poverty.
Critics say the EU should scrap its target of having renewable fuels make up 10 percent of road transport fuels by 2020, saying the goal will contribute to hunger and environmental damage around the word.
European leaders played down the risks.
"The impact of biofuels (on food prices) should not provoke such alarm, because from my point of view the relationship isn't that clear," Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told reporters.
Even as many poor nations in Latin America criticize the use of food crops such as corn and soybeans to make fuels, they are increasingly worried about climate change and say rich states must cut carbon emissions.
Peru created an environment ministry this week to help cope with the impact of rising global temperatures, which studies show could melt its Andean glaciers within 25 years.
While there was broad support for initiatives to combat global warming, including carbon trading programs and reforestation, leaders struggled to agree about trade.
DIVIDED ON TRADE
Proponents say opening up borders would lower food prices by removing tariffs, but skeptics say trade pacts could hurt food production by slashing subsidies.
The issue has exposed ideological disagreements between Peru and Colombia, both free-trade enthusiasts, and leftist leaders like Bolivia's Morales, a former coca grower who says trade deals could hurt peasant farmers.
Peru and Colombia called on Friday for their countries to be put on a "fast track" in trade talks between the EU and Andean countries.
Europe is keen to boost trade with resource-rich Latin America and pushed talks with three trade blocs in the region.
Michelle Bachelet, president of staunch free-trader Chile, called for a global trade agreement.
"I'm making an urgent plea for us to successfully wrap up the Doha round," she said. "If we have freer and fairer agricultural trade, we'll have more food."
Although the summit's final statement included few concrete measures, some leaders used the occasion to patch over differences.
Chavez, who often insults conservative leaders, apologized to German Chancellor Angela Merkel only days after calling her a political descendant of Adolf Hitler.
"I haven't come here to fight," Chavez said after they shook hands. "I told her that I was sorry if I'd been harsh."
Chavez irritated some leaders at a summit in Chile last year, prompting the king of Spain to tell him to "shut up."
(Additional reporting by Maria Luisa Palomino, Helen Popper, Marco Aquino, Dana Ford, Silene Ramirez and Ricardo Serra; Editing by Eric Walsh)
((terry.wade@reuters.com; +5411 4318-0655; Reuters Messaging: terry.wade.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: EU LATINAMERICA/
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CHICAGO, May 16 (Reuters) - Rough rice futures on the Chicago Board of Trade closed mostly higher Friday on a bounce from this week's sell-off spurred by easing world supply worries, traders said.
* July <RRN8> was the only month to close lower -- down 27-1/2 cents at $20.06-1/2 per cwt as commodity funds rolled their July longs into the deferred months.
* September <RRU8> ended 52-1/2 cents higher at $18.75.
* Volume was large estimated at 2,017 futures and 68 options.
* The market was due for a bounce, after falling the maximum daily price limit the past three sessions.
* The market began slipping a week ago in reaction to UDSA's forecast for a record world crop for 2008 and stocks to grow. But prices remain historically high, hitting a record top above $25 in late April on fears of shortages and hoarding.
* Trading limits revert back to 75 cents from $1.15 for Monday as the market did not close limit down or limit up in two or more months.
* The Philippines will hold a tender for private importers for 341,440 tonnes of rice, possibly June 5, the National Food Authority said. [ID:nMAN142086]
For detailed report click on [GRA/].
(Reporting by Christine Stebbins)
((christine.stebbins@thomsonreuters.com; +1 312 408 8720; Reuters Messaging:christine.stebbins.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: MARKETS CBOT RICE
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CHICAGO, May 16 (Reuters) - U.S. wheat futures closed higher in Chicago and Kansas City on Friday on light short covering after a seesaw session, traders said.
Wheat futures were seen as oversold and due for a bounce following a two-month slide, but the approaching harvest of a record large world wheat crop continued to hang over the market, pushing prices lower at times.
A weaker dollar, a rally in soybean futures tied to the extension of an Argentine farmer strike, and strength in crude oil lent support.
* At the Chicago Board of Trade, July soft red winter wheat <WN8> settled 4 cents higher at $7.75-1/2 per bushel, with back months up 2-1/2 to 4 cents.
* Funds were net even in CBOT wheat for the day.
* At the Kansas City Board of Trade, July hard red winter wheat futures <KWN8> closed up 2-3/4 cents at $8.24-1/4 per bushel, with back months up 2 to 5 cents.
* At the Minneapolis Grain Exchange, July spring wheat <MWN8> fell 3 cents to close at $10.04 per bushel, with new-crop September <MWU8> down 8 cents at $8.64.
* Volume was light in Chicago estimated at 33,300 futures and 6,574 options. In Minneapolis an estimated 5,099 futures traded. Estimated Kansas City trade was 10,643 futures.
* MGE futures weighed by soft cash markets for spring wheat amid sluggish demand from flour mills.
* Pakistan issued two separate tenders to import a total of 250,000 tonnes of wheat to boost stocks. [ID:nSIN260093]
* Ukraine has offered the first parcels of milling and feed wheat of the 2008 harvest, a top analyst said. [ID:nL16579072]
* Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko is ready to cancel grain and sunflower oil export restrictions, if the government fails to abolish them, a local newspaper said. [ID:nL16677208]
(Reporting by Julie Ingwersen) ((julie.ingwersen@thomsonreuters.com; +1 312-408-8720; Reuters Messaging: julie.ingwersen.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: MARKETS WHEAT/CBOT
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