Schroders is deferring the launch of its Agricultural Land Trust due to current market and economic conditions. The group said it felt it was appropriate to delay the launch, which was initially scheduled for the third quarter, and look again at the closed-ended product in early 2009.

In the past week, the alleged claim by Egypt’s Agriculture minister Amin Abaza that Uganda offered his country over 2 million acres of fertile land to produce wheat to feed the Arab nation’s 81 million people has rattled Ugandans.

President Yoweri Museveni initiated talks with Egyptian officials over the possibility of growing wheat and corn for the north African state in Uganda but no firm offer of land was made, Egypt and State House sources have separately said.

"Jilin and other corporate entities in China are taking major steps to increase the amount of China-controlled soy plantation both in China and around the world," reports the US Consulate in Shenyang

The Uganda government had allocated to Egypt two million acres of land to grow wheat and corn this year, Egypt`s minister of Agriculture revealed. He asserted that the land was in a number of places. Two million acres is equivalent to 2.2% of Uganda`s total area.

Some of the world's richest nations are coming to grow crops and export the yields, hoping to turn the global epicenter of malnutrition into a breadbasket for themselves.

Once committed largely to perceived safe-haven investments in the United States, Gulf nations are now looking to send their petrodollar surpluses towards a more exotic global destination: Southeast Asian farmland.

Driven by food security concerns, about 15 companies, led by the State Trading Corporation (STC), have formed a consortium to engage in corporate farming either in Paraguay or Uruguay. Among other notable firms that have joined the consortium are Gujarat Ambuja, Ruchi Soya Industries and Jhunjhunwala Vanaspati Ltd.

Japanese food corporations are stepping up their diversification and security of food sources, in particular taking ownership of the entire supply chain, from owning the farms in other countries, through to the processing and distribution of the food stuffs.

China is looking at the Philippines to meet its domestic food and energy requirements even as the Chinese economy is being restructured into an enormous assembly hub of manufactured goods for the American, Japanese and European markets.

Agrowill Group AB, the largest agricultural investment company in the Baltic States, intends to sell all land owned by the Group in Lithuania to the Land Fund that will be established.

Cru Investment Management, the UK-based $800 million absolute return investment company, yesterday announced targeting the region and unveiled its plans to offer its new Africa Agriculture Fund in the Middle East early next year .This fund will invest in commercial agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa, with the aim of helping to alleviate poverty in the region, while not compromising returns for investors.