Mauritius has secured a large area of land in Mozambique to produce hybrid rice for export back hom through a joint venture with a Singaporean company.

High on Chongqing's shopping list is more than 333,000 hectares of farmland, which Huang said would reduce the city's dependence, for example, on imported edible oil.

For the far-sighted investor, especially one spending dollars, an agricultural downturn could be the time to consider buying farmland.

More than 20 million hectares of farmland in Africa and Latin America are now in the hands of foreign governments and companies, a sign of a global "land grab" that got a boost from last year's food crisis.

The debate over foreign investment is set to expand from the mining industry to agriculture as overseas investors pour billions of dollars into Australian rural properties considered by some to be strategic national assets.

UAE food processing and poultry group Iffco has justifiably ruffled some feathers in Australia. Earlier this year, Iffco acquired a 14.99 per cent stake in Australian Agricultural Company (AAC) from Futuris Corporation for AU$64.7 million (Dh171.6m). AAC is the largest beef cattle company in Australia, running around 500,000 beef cattle on 21 cattle stations comprising 8.2 million hectares.

The agribusiness managed investment scheme sector is not expected to escape the economic downturn that has hit the financial services industry.

A conference for fund managers tied to agriculture held annually in Sydney by Austock, an Australian broker, attracted a few dozen contrarian souls three years ago. This year’s event, which began on March 16th, had to be restricted to several hundred ticket-holders, with many others turned away.

Could the Middle East become a significant new source of offshore investment in Australia’s extensive northern cattle industry?

"They're not talking about $2 or $3 million, they're talking about $20 million to up to $1 billion of investment in big projects," Peter Metcalfe, the director of grain industry development for Western Australia, said in an interview.

Middle Eastern countries flush with oil funds want to invest up to $1bn in Australian farmland as they extend a drive for food security to the world’s second-largest wheat exporter, a grains official said yesterday.

The fund’s strategy is to own and manage funds which operate in largely unsubsidised farming countries and are among the lowest cost producers of their chosen commodity or livestocks.

Dexion Capital prepares to raise $270 million for a private equity fund which will invest in land, and operate cattle and crop farms around the world.

Both public and private sector investors in the Gulf are also looking at ways to improve local food supplies, by investing in a range of outlets from arable farm land in the Sudan, Algeria and Pakistan to introduce new technology to enhance the local production of foodstuffs and grains, livestock, poultry and fish.

"If Korea wants to invest in agriculture, Australia is open for business," Australian Ambassador to Seoul Peter Rowe said in a recent interview with The Korea Times.

China's fast-growing farm corporations may be the next wave of Chinese investors in Australia, joining their already influential mining comrades.

"Economic development is spurring a land grab in broad areas of the country, and the poorest Lao are paying the price," reports the US Embassy in Vientiane

From the California wine country to the Florida citrus groves and Montana ranches, a wave of Japanese investment is sweeping through American agriculture and food processing.