Argentine president declares farm emergency

[Bacchus39]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090127/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_argentina_drought;_ylt=ApPXB_6Cc5i52xgDJPw8Bca3IxIF

Argentine president declares farm emergency
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Debora Rey, Associated Press Writer – 19 mins agoBUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Argentina's president declared an agricultural emergency Monday in the nation's breadbasket provinces, responding to a key demand by powerful farm organizations amid the worst drought in decades.

Cristina Fernandez told political and business leaders in a televised press conference that the decree will exempt thousands of farmers from paying various taxes for one year to help them confront what analysts estimate will be $5 billion in losses this year.

Argentina's farming provinces, including Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Entre Rios, Cordoba, La Pampa, Chaco and Santiago del Estero, have been hit by the worst drought since at least 1971, according to the National Weather Service.

In some areas, officials say it is the worst drought since the 1930s. Winds across the pampas are whipping up once-fertile soil that has turned to sand, quickly covering hundreds of parched cow carcasses piling up on barren swaths of land.

To qualify for the tax exemption, producers must have lost at least 50 percent of their harvest or herd.

"We're going to be very rigorous. We're going to control so that the producers who are really affected are the ones who benefit," said Agricultural Secretary Carlos Cheppi.

Argentina is one of the world's top five exporters of soy, wheat, corn and beef.

The drought comes as the international economic crisis has slashed demand for the country's commodities.

Declaring an agricultural emergency has been a key demand by Argentina's powerful farmers' organizations, which successfully pressured the government to reverse an export tax hike last July by staging four months of crippling protests.

But Argentine Agrarian Federation head Eduardo Buzzi said that while the decree was a step forward, it was not enough.

"What's at stake is much more than a harvest: There is desolation and uncertainty" among farmers because of the economic crisis and drought, Buzzi told local media.

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1. Argentina declares drought crisis

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7852886.stm