BRIEFING - ASIA AGRIBUSINESS - JUNE 29, 2009.

An executive briefing on agribusiness for June 29, 2009, prepared by Asia Pulse (http://www.asiapulse.com), the real-time, Asia-based wire with exclusive news, commercial intelligence and business opportunities.

VIETNAM-JAPAN PACT SEEN AS OPPORTUNITY FOR EXPORTERS

HANOI -Japan Economic Partnership Agreement, said a senior official yesterday.

Le Trieu Dung, from the Ministry of Industry and Trades Multilateral Trade Policy Department, said that the biggest advantage that the agreement would bring would be preferences for farm produce and garments and textiles, as Japan vowed to remove taxes for 83.8 per cent of the commercial value of Vietnamese agricultural products within 10 years, Japan's highest rate in any ASEAN country.

CHINA'S 2009 COTTON ACREAGE TO FALL 11 PCT: ASSOCIATION

BEIJING - China's cotton planting area in 2009 is estimated to drop 11 per cent from last year, according to a report on the official website of the China Cotton Association (CCA).

CCA made the estimate based on its survey in May. It said that China's cotton acreage is predicted to reach 5.21 million hectares this year, down 12 per cent from its forecast in April.

BEIJING COS BUY TAIWAN FARM PRODUCE AT EXHIBITION

BEIJING - A group of 29 Beijing companies bought up all the farm produce on offer from central Taiwan at an exhibition Sunday, valued at 700,000 yuan (US$102,447).

The companies, including supermarkets, chain restaurants and online sellers, also agreed with the exhibitors to hold Taiwan fruit festivals, tea sales and food festivals in Beijing.

CREDITORS WIND UP 40 COS IN AUSTRALIAN FARM GIANT TIMBERCORP

MELBOURNE - Creditors of troubled Australian agricultural projects manager Timbercorp Ltd (ASX:TIM) have voted to have 40 companies within the group wound up.

Timbercorp creditors met in Melbourne on Monday for the second time to consider Timbercorp administrator Mark Korda's recommendation that 40 companies within the group - excluding the managing entity Timbercorp Securities Ltd - be placed in liquidation because they had no money and could not continue to trade.

TAIWAN ENTREPRENEUR FARMER TOUTS HIS RICE ONLINE

TAIPEI - Will a Taiwanese housewife buy rice from a farmer who pushes his products in the "Kuso" way online? Probably not.

However, this is not a problem for Hsieh Ming-chien, an electronics factory worker-turned-farmer in Taiwan's eastern county of Hualien, who has succeeded in touting on the Internet the rice he produces and has put his name on the map as a farmer-blogger.

ANDRA PRADESH FARM SECTOR TO GET EXTRA HOURS OF FREE POWER

HYDERABAD - Free power supply to India's agriculture sector in Andhra Pradesh will be enhanced from seven to nine hours a day from July 15.

Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy issued instructions to this effect to the Andhra Pradesh state's transmission and distribution firms during review of the power sector at a two-day conference of District Collectors that began on Friday.

MALAYSIA TO TACKLE PLANTATION SECTOR'S FOREIGN WORKERS DEPENDENCE

TAIPING (Malaysia) - Malaysian plantation industry's dependency on foreign workers is expected to be tackled by 2020, Deputy Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Hamzah Zainuddin said.

He said this was because the Malaysian government was in the midst of intensifying efforts to lure young people to fill the vacancies in the industry.

IRRIGATION CAN PARTLY MAKE UP FOR INDIA'S DELAYED MONSOON:MONTEK

NEW DELHI - Delayed monsoon is a matter of concern, but India can withstand its adverse impact to some extent on the strength of irrigation, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Friday.

"If you will have a bad monsoon, it will affect agriculture. Some of that effect can be countered because there is a lot of irrigation. The country can withstand drought... even if agriculture production goes down a bit during the Kharif, it can be made up in Rabi," he told reporters.

TASMANIAN TIMBER WORKERS WELCOME NEWS OF POSSIBLE GUNNS' PARTNER

HOBART - Timber workers are hailing the announcement of a potential joint-venture partner for Gunns Ltd's (ASX:GNS) proposed A$2.2 billion (US$1.776 billion) Tasmanian pulp mill.

Gunns announced on Monday it has agreed to proceed with one company to develop a joint-venture agreement for the project, and is moving forward with the preferred partner on that basis.

CHINA WILLING TO WORK WITH TAIWAN TO TACKLE DOWNTURN: OFFICIAL

BEIJING - A Chinese official said here Sunday that China is willing to join hands with Taiwan to get over difficulties at a time when the impact of the global financial crisis still persists.

Zheng Lizhong, executive deputy director of the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, made the remarks during a meeting with heads of the delegations of Taichung City and Taichung, Changhua and Nantou counties of Taiwan.

VIETNAM'S RICE EXPORTS GROW - EVEN IN DRY ECONOMY

HANOI - As a sole exception to the downward trend of export activities in general and agricultural products in particular, Vietnamese rice exports have maintained consistent, steady growth in both volume and value since the beginning of the year.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in the first six months of this year, the country exported 3.8 million tonnes of rice, bringing home US$1.8 billion, up 25 per cent over the same period last year.

VIETNAM'S SEAFOOD EXPORT VALUE DOWN, INDUSTRY FACES DIFFICULTIES

HANOI - Vietnam earned US$320 million from seafood exports in June, bringing the total export value in the first half of the year to almost US$1.7 billion, a year-on-year decline of more than 11 per cent, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The European Union remains Vietnam s largest seafood importer with 357 million USD, making up more than 26 per cent, followed by Japan.

INDIAN BANKS CAN GIVE MORE RELIEF TO FARMERS: RBI

MUMBAI - India's public sector banks have been authorised to give more relief to farmers under the debt relief scheme, provided the lenders do not ask the Government to bear the losses.

Under the debt relief scheme, called One Time Settlement (OTS), farmers were given debt relief to the extent of 25 per cent of their loans, if they pay 75 per cent of their debt to the banking sector. The scheme is for loans that were overdue on December 31, 2007 and remained unpaid until February 29, 2008.

INDIA'S FERTILISER MINISTRY PROMISES TIMELY SUPPLY OF FARM NUTRIENTS

NEW DELHI - India's Fertiliser Ministry on Friday unveiled its 100-day action plan that promises steps for two major stakeholders -- farmers and the industry -- to ensure "timely availability" of farm nutrients as well as "quick disbursal of subsidy".

Unveiling the agenda here, Chemicals and Fertiliser Minister M K Alagiri said, "(The) Fertiliser Monitoring System will be upgraded to ensure timely availability of fertilisers and quick disbursal of subsidy."

MAYOR, MAGISTRATES TO PROMOTE TAIWANESE PRODUCE IN BEIJING

TAIPEI - Heads of the local governments of Taichung City, Taichung County and Changhua County departed for Beijing Friday to promote agricultural products from central Taiwan.

Taichung Mayor Jason Hu, Taichung Magistrate Huang Chung-sheng and Changhua Magistrate Cho Poh-yuan headed for Beijing aboard a direct charter flight from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.

SOUTH KOREA'S FARM COOPERATIVE BIS RATIO TOPS 12.5%

SEOUL - South Korea's farmers' federation said Sunday that its capital adequacy ratio may have reached 12.5 per cent thanks to efforts by member cooperatives to create fresh funds.

A total of 1 trillion won (US$778 million) worth of fresh funds has been generated as of Friday following a capital fund drive that began in May, the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (Nonghyup) said in a press release.

GUNNS MAY HAVE SECURED JV PARTNER FOR TASMANIAN PULP MILL

MELBOURNE - Australian woodchipping company Gunns Ltd (ASX:GNS) says it has a potential joint-venture partner for its A$2.2 billion (US$1.777 billion) Tasmanian pulp mill as it continues to negotiate finance for the project.

"Over the past six months, Gunns has progressed a detailed process to identify partners for potential participation in the Bell Bay pulp mill," the company said in a statement on Monday.

TASMANIAN OPS FACING "UNACCEPTABLE" FINANCIAL LOSS: PAPERLINX

SYDNEY - Australian Paper manufacturer PaperlinX Ltd (ASX:PPX) says a review of its Tasmanian operations has found the business is facing an "unacceptable" financial loss.

PaperlinX chief executive Tom Park said the group will work with Tas Paper employees, customers, government and its lenders to "produce more positive future outcomes" for the business.

FUMIGATION TREATMENT PLANT HELPS TAINAN MANGO EXPORTS TO JAPAN

TAIPEI - A fumigation treatment plant has played a big role in the success in a Tainan County town's efforts to export Irwin mango exports to Japan, cutting down the time it takes to process the fruit before shipping it overseas.

Mango growers in the Tainan County town of Yujing said that in the past, Taiwan had mainly exported Chin Huang mangoes, a yellow-skinned mango, because they could be stored for a longer time than the more popular Irwin mango, with its sweet fragrance and attractive red color.

INDONESIA'S CORN PRODUCTION CONSTANTLY RISING

JAKARTA - Indonesia`s corn production has been constantly increasing, especially since the crops are easy to grow.

Indonesia`s corn production so far this year has reached 16.47 million tons, and last year only 16 million tons, secretary general of the National Corn Council Maxdeyul Sola said in Jakarta Friday.

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