BEIJING, April 9 Agriculture ministers from China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam are preparing to cooperate more in boosting the industry across the region.The ministers are in Beijing Monday to kick off their first meeting to strengthen cooperation in agriculture, which is one of the biggest industries in the region."Agriculture is moving away from a single objective of providing food to the dual role of being a source of both food and energy. And this is occurring at a time when the sector is under increasing threat from climate change, animal and crop disease epidemics, and water shortages," the Manila-based Asian Development Bank said. As such, agriculture "must aim toward (becoming) a more prosperous yet socially equitable sector in which the full benefits of the 'new agriculture' are shared by the poor," said Urooj Malik, director of the ADB ' s Southeast Asia department. The six nations will concentrate on boosting cross-border trade and investment in agriculture, in addition to cooperating on food security and ensuring sustainable crop growth. Included also are use of advanced agricultural science and technology in biosafety and biotechnology areas, policy and investment cooperation in biofuels and rural renewable energy and establishment of emergency response mechanisms for agriculture-related crises.Copyright 2007 by UPI
