A conference to discuss ways of boosting agricultural production in Africa will be held in Zanzibar later this month

Putin's latest land reform legislation could lead to over 400mn hectares of crop acreage being sold.

A group of private Saudi investors said they plan to start a company with $533.3 million capital that will invest in farm projects mainly abroad. First projects may be with Ghana, Turkey and Kazakhstan.

Saudi Arabia announces the launch of Agroinvest, which will focus on farm acquisitions abroad to grow wheat, rice, soybeans and other crops in Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Pakistan and Turkey

The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has launched a venture aiming to invest in food production worldwide focusing on the acquisition and development of existing agribusiness companies rather than the lease of large tracts of farmland.

An internal document recently posted on IRRI's website reveals that the Institute has been advising Saudi Arabia in the context of its strategy to acquire farm land overseas for its own food production.

South Africa is joining a “green rush” for the African continent. The Republic of the Congo has offered Agri SA 10-million hectares for South African farmers to produce maize and soya beans as well as to establish dairy and poultry farms.

Agricultural experts have called for a halt to moves by Gulf investors to snap up foreign land, amid claims that poor nations are losing much-needed farmland in a calculated land grab.

Bahrain and other Gulf countries' plan to buy agricultural land in Thailand to bolster their food supplies could be thwarted, it has emerged.

It's certainly questionable whether the lease of agricultural land to foreign countries for the purposes of their own food supply is in the best interests of Pakistan, even if it brings in agricultural technology. What do the Arab farmers have that our agricultural universities don't?

In June 2009, the Indian company Karuturi took up intensive farming in Ethiopia. The harvest will be exported to Asia and Europe.

Gulf investors may be forced to reconsider plans to acquire agricultural land in Thailand following moves there that could curb foreign investment in the sector.