One cannot imagine Indian cuisine without aloo (potato in Hindi) chholey, aloo mutter, aloo bonda, aloo chaat. Hard to believe that all this came about in the recent ~450 years(sometime after Pizarro showed up in Peru in 1532) of India’s more than 7000 year history.
via USATODAY.com
The origin of the potato has become, well, a “hot potato” between neighbors Peru and Chile.
The spud dispute began Monday, when Chilean Agriculture Minister Marigen Hornkohl said 99% of the world’s potatoes derive from spuds native to Chile.
Peru, where the potato is a source of national pride, bristled at the claim and said the comes from a part of the Andes near Lake Titicaca, most of which is located in modern-day Peru. The country claims to have some 3,000 varieties of potato.
The spud dispute is just the latest flare-up between the testy neighbors.
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A model that Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd could consider replicating.
via NZ Herald:
Dairy farm operator NZ Farming Systems Uruguay continues to buy up land in the South American country, while eyeing opportunities across the border.
NZ Farming Systems was set up by PGG Wrightson to develop dairy farm operations in Uruguay and was floated on the stock exchange in December.
The company has bought another 4400ha of farmland in Uruguay during the current half-year, taking its total holding to 36,300ha.
Chairman Keith Smith said the cost of land was rising but the entry price was still low and the economics of development attractive.
The land purchased came at an average price of US$3700 (4692) a hectare.
PGG Wrightson group general manager financial services Michael Thomas said comparable land in New Zealand could cost between US$45,000 and US$50,0000 a hectare.
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I stayed at the Central Palace hotel on 18 de Julio, in Montevideo last month. When I arrived on 20th April, late at night, I was wondering why there were no street lights. In the following days, I was told of the energy crisis. Wind energy projects need to be installed and brought online in double-quick time.
via MiamiHerald.com
First, the escalators stopped. Then shadows crept across the city in what appeared to be an epidemic of dead light bulbs.
As winter approaches, Uruguay has found itself in the grips of an intensifying energy crisis, brought about by a three-month drought that has crippled the country’s hydroelectric power generators. The scarcity — at a time of record high prices for imported oil — is prompting strict conservation measures.
For a while, the drought had little impact in Uruguay’s capital, where nearly half of all Uruguayans live and there is ample drinking water. But after the third unusually dry month in a row, President Tabaré Vázquez has initiated Phase 2 of the national ”Plan to Save Energy,” ordering businesses and homeowners to cut their energy use deeply.
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