you don't see any of that in agriculture. as long as you're 12, you have your parent with you or some sort of permission from your parent then you're allowed to work an unlimited amount of hours. >> back in 1938, the law was mostly established for children of farm owners. more of a "i'm a farm owner, i have children, it's okay to have my 12 year old, and in many instances, my 10 year old to work in the fields with me." but that was a personal relationship, obviously. now we're looking at children working for someone else, and the law, they fall under that loophole. >> you work pretty hard out there. >> so like we can go more faster and we can leave. because it's hard to cut them and pick them. >> all over the country, children like evelyn put in long days, in extreme temperatures sometimes without shelter and access to facilities. they are exposed to pesticides over long periods of time. >> have you ever felt sick because of chemicals on the plants? >> um, ya, actually i have. >> you can actually see em' on the plants. extrem

arkansas's agriculture is diverse. and we are in the top 25 states of production in 24 different commodities including rice, honey, and corn for blueberries. our nation, as a whole, has even more diversity in crops with grow. whether it's cherries in michigan, wheat from the great plains, peanuts from oklahoma in georgia -- actually, you can get peanuts from arkansas now -- or dairy from minnesota. this diversity requires a day versz set of risk management tools that meet the challenges that all of our producers face for every crop and region. crop insurance is an important tool for our farmers to manage the risk, but it's not the only one. other tools must be responsive from shallow losses and cognizant of deep to invest in the future, enable the next generation to enter farming and to provide opportunities for our veterans to work the land. we need to make sure that our research and scientific infrastructure is strong to protect our families and crops from bacteria, weather and disease. we need to make sure that our

jobs rely on agriculture. but agriculture is more than the economic driver of our state. it is a way of life for thousands of montana families who have lived off the land for generations. my own great-great-grandmother came to montana as a homesteadier. she homesteadied up in the golden triangle of montana, in the heart of montana's wheat country. i know how important it is to ensure that young montanans have the opportunity to continue working on the family farms and family ranches. and that's why montanans are so frustrated and i am so frustrated by washington's persistent failure to pass a long-term farm bill that provides montana's producers with the certainty they need and they deserve. montanans are sick and tired of the political games that have long delayed the passage of a five-year farm bill. this critical legislation is long overdue and it's unacceptable that congress continues to stand in the way of providing our ag producers and rural communities with a long-term solution. agriculture is not only

permanent agriculture law established by the agriculture adjustments act of 1938 and the agriculture act of 1949 does not reflect current farming and marketing practices. -- practices, trade agreements or market circumstances. farmers, as well as taxpayers, will benefit from a modernized bill. and with that, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: thank you, mr. speaker. i just want to associate myself with the remarks of the ranking member on the ag committee, mr. peterson, when he talks about how unusual this process is, with the sense of congress resolutions that are put into this rule, basically to instruct conferees on what to do. it's highly unusual that the majority gives itself to these sense of congress resolutions. but this whole process has been really strange. i should say to my colleagues, you know, i come to this floor every week and i talk about the issue of hunger and food insecurity in america. there are 15 million people who are hunger, 17

agricultural future. and there are some in this body, mr. speaker, that believe we shouldn't be involved in ag policy in this country. well, my response to them is, do you want america to be a food exporter like we are now? or do you want toimport our food supply -- to import our food supply? we know the answer to that, mr. speaker. and the answer, the solution to making sure that doesn't happen is getting this bill through a quick conference committee, bringing it back to the floor of the house and ensuring that our family farmers and all those who rely upon the ag committee for their livelihood -- economy for their livelihood are put first. and, mr. speaker, with that i thank everyone who has been involved in this process, my staff, many interns that have worked for me, to put this special order in place, and i thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back the balance of my time. if i have any. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. under the speaker's announced the of ja

these are the backbone of american agriculture. these are the businesses that need lawmakers to work together to timize a long-term farm bill so they can have a little more certainty amongst the chaos. in addition to certainty for farmers, we have to do what is right. fiscally and miranda morally. this means eliminating waste, fraud, and redundancies when impossible to save taxpayer dollars and taking steps to further detour the negative culture, the effects of illegal animal fighting, done through a provision i worked with, representative mcgovern, my colleague across the aisle, and i thank you. the animal fighting spectator prohibition act, which i reintroduce to this congress and already had 217 cosponsors eliminate the ability for the organizers of the animal fights to pretend to be spectators in order to avoid prosecution under federal law. it makes it a crime to knowingly take a minor to an illegal animal fight and i'm pleased both house and senate included similar language in the versions of the farm bill. as a former prosec

narrator: agriculture provides us with the food we need to survive. to keep pace with an ever-growing population, scientists created new seed varieties that provided outstanding yields but also required increased inputs -- more fertilizer and more pesticides -- but at what cost to the environment? peter kenmore of the united nations food and agriculture organization has been working with farmers for 30 years to decrease the use of pesticides in rice production. dr. kenmore: we have been able basically to substitute brains for chemicals. and in that sense, the growth rate stays up but less chemicals are used. narrator: in the yaqui valley of mexico, researchers are finding that excess fertilizer runoff from wheat crops is affecting marine life in the gulf of california. so they are turning to technology to decrease fertilizer inputs without decreasing yields. dr. ortiz-monasterio: technology like this can result in a win-win situation where the farmer benefits and at the same time the environment benefits. narrator: by showing farmers how to reduce pes

now, this may -- let's talk about just one aspect of agriculture. my colleagues who represent all parts of this country could talk about a whole lot of other aspects of agriculture. that's just one multi-multi-multibillion-dollar industry across this country that is being hurt and ultimately being devastated. some will go out of business. all because of the tea party shutdown. and all with problems that could be solved right now. they could be solved this afternoon. so let's stop this shameful politicking. how should end the shutdown. just vote on the senate-passed continuing resolution. after all, it has the numbers they in the house asked for. all they have to do is keep their word. we in the senate did. now it's time for them to. mr. president, i see no one else seeking recognition, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mrs. mccaskill: mr. president, i would ask suspension of the quornlg. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from michigan. mrs. mccaskill: thank you ve

peterson, and all members of the house agriculture committee. we have touched on many subject matters. we have had the most amazing open markups in committee with amendments almost beyond galore. twice we have been across the great floor of this body in an open process considering iterally 100-plus amendments almost every time it seems. from that process, we are now with a product ready to go to conference with the other body. this motion and the next two senses of congress resolution address several things that were decided on the floor of this house. while i appreciate the opportunity to reassess the judgments of the body, i would just simply say this looking at the various points. my good friend, the ranking member is exactly right. this motion would restore 1938 and 1949 law as the permanent ase farm bill. roosevelt was president. truman was president when the 1949 law was in place. the average tractor was 55 horsepower, the average dairy might have been 40 could yous. a lot of things that have long faded away in subsequent farm bills. i kno

and food and agriculture programs will likely be more dire. and on that note, the number of americans filing jobless claims jumped last week. they increased by 66,000, much higher than expected. reflecting the impact of the government shutdown as private contractors who work with the government are cutting back on their employees. the increase comes as a back log of claims are being processed in california. still ahead, watching and waiting in washington, and watching the reaction on wall street. we're awaiting word from house speaker, john boehner, that a deal may have been struck to avert the debt ceiling, and wall street reacting kindly, suggesting that there might be something to this one this time. we'll be right back. >> welcome back to aljazeera america, and is we're going to take you quickly to capitol hill. that's where joh john boehner hs stepped into the room and announced that some type of deal has been reached down this, a strong indicator that there's a deal in the works, wall street, dow up 186 points, and a precursor to the deb

it's a largely agriculture population. do we know at this point the extent of the damage to agriculture land and to crops? >> well i think you know, given the overall size of india and all of the amount of lost to crops will be very negligible. the storm centered around six districts and the total amount of people evehicl evacuated wasa million people and the loss of life is about nine people. agriculture does get affected by heavy rains and we do have heavy veinrains now and that is boundo happen. and the government measures will hopefully kick in. what is impressive is the way the storm was handled was the preparation. we were confronted with a great cyclone and i think the government already all three governments the state and the central and the central government had their teams up in place and to evacuate a million people in less than 12 hours. it's a remarkable achievement in itself. sorry, sir to interrupt you. coming back to the impact on the agriculture. there will be some damage to crops in the six districts tha

it feed the profit of the agricultural industry. i hold that mothers in families where vitamin a deficiency is a problem have understood that eating this rice will be good for them because if we expect to finally start delivering this golden rice to farmers in the philippines by the end of this year and it is easy. and decent pollen count this is the poster boy of. the seeds of genetic of incident in the city and this is something.

narrator: agriculture provides us with the food we need to survive.uction. dr. kenmore: we have been able basically to substitute brains for chemicals. and in that sense, the growth rate stays up but less chemicals are used. narrator: in the yaqui valley of mexico, researchers are finding that excess fertilizer runoff from wheat crops is affecting marine life in the gulf of california. so they are turning to technology to decrease fertilizer inputs without decreasing yields. dr. ortiz-monasterio: technology like this can result in a win-win situation, where the farmer benefits and at the same time the environment benefits. narrator: by showing farmers how to reduce pesticide and fertilizer use, both research teams hope to minimize environmental impacts while still producing enough food for our growing population. a staple throughout the globe, rice is an essential crop, providing 60% of the calories for half of the world's population. dr. peter kenmore of the food and agriculture organization of the united nations in rome, italy, has been conducting r

is an acronym that owes its notoriety largely to the agriculture giant monsanto a multinational billion dollar corporation generating global criticism revolving around the safety of its products and growing a monopoly over the world's food supply they are able to patent the genetically modified foods with a very strong patent for farmers can only base the seeds from monsanto each year and they can't save the seeds and farmers who have tried to save seeds or have their farms contaminated months and was gone after them and sued them or only into growing their crops researchers have documented dozens of health risks associated with the consumption of a modified foods and the majority of americans have campaigned for g.m.o. foods to be labeled just like these organic fruits are labeled but so far the will of the people has been silenced by the money of monsanto according to open secrets dot org the company's spent nearly six million dollars last year lobbying federal lawmakers and food regulators the payoff came this year with the passing of the so-called monsanto protection act a bill that

all while streamlining federal agricultural programs for hard-working rural families. i'm also pleased the house-approved bill includes two provisions that i helped craft and sustain the economies of our rural communities. the bye partisan rural communities act ensures that small rural areas have access to the technical assistance and training necessary to enhance local infrastructure, all at no additional cost to america's taxpayers. another provision that we fostered with sub committee chairman thompson would ensure that wood products qualify under the usda's bio-based marketing program. furthermore, the nutrition reform and work opportunity act of 2013 makes common-sense reforms to the supplemental nutrition assistance program, ensuring that the truly vulnerable families receive the report they need in more efficient and effective manner. by advancing the value and the blessing of work for healthy, able-bodied adults, this legislation follows the proven bye partisan path for success laid out by the democratic president and republican congress during the welfare refo

you don't see any of that in agriculture. >> they don't ask, "is she 12?".hey just want their job done. >> how many of you get up before 5 o'clock in the morning? on inside story, we bring together unexpected voices closest to the story, invite hard-hitting debate and desenting views and always explore issues relevant to you. >>> for years we have heard reports about the risk of led poisoningest speshltly for children. there's a growing body of research indicates that led can chip away at that development. there is also increasing evidence that led toxicity can be tied to high crime. we get our report from rob california. >> reporter: it only took a few minutes for tamara's son to be poisoned by led. but the brain damage caused will haunt him for his entire life. >> we used an open flame torch to burn the lead paint off of the exterior of our home. my kids were instantly poisoned. >> reporter: he was just 7-month-old at the time. he is highly intelligence but has severe learning disabilities, cannot read or attend school. behavior. >> reporter: doctors have

you don't see any of that in agriculture. as long as you're 12 and have your parent with you, you are able to work out there an unlimited amount of hours. >> reporter: agriculture ranks at the top of the most hazardous work, along with mining and construction. for workers 15-17, the risk of fatal injury is four times the amount of other industries, according to the labor department. >> reporter: i think you were working hard, you were fast all day. all over the country, children like evelyn put in long days in extreme temperatures. sometimes without shelter or access to facilities. they're exposed to test sides over long periods of time. extreme poverty can leave few other options. laredo, texas, sits just inside of the u.s. border with mexico. this school has some of the highest numbers of migrant farm worker children in the area. they travel with their families to other states to work for part of the year, changing schools midterm. she advocates for school children who are also migrant workers. she began working in the fiel

they need the pieces and deal with agriculture. they do those three things, they'll move into negotiations with the senate to get a package. that's what everyone wants to see. i don't know when it will happen. >> we hear from some republicans, including from labrador saying, "no discussion. the democrats played hard ball on negotiation, we are not interested in seeing it happen." how frustrating is that? >> it's washington gamesmanship and is not productive. we have a broken immigration system that needs to be addressed. we have a supreme court decision saying it should be handled by congress at the federal level. we determined there is a problem, and who is supposed to fix it, it's unacceptable when those who are supposed to fix it will not address it. >> is it a gone issue? >> well, we hope not. what we are encouraging the members of our delegation to do is be productive, keep the dialogue going, we understand some are in favour of a presencive approach. senator hatch was key in getting that passed out of the senate. we understan

took part in this second organized march against the agricultural giant monsanto protesters rallying against the company's use of genetically modified organisms and trying to raise awareness about its corporate practices some protesters told us that even though the government is shutdown months onto a lobbyist are hard at work here in washington many pouncers by actually came up to activists while we were standing there holding and g.m.o. signs and asked what is the g.m.o. so awareness is very low in terms of what exactly genetically modified foods are let alone the dangers they cause in the capital the protests began with activists going into large grocery stores and retailers trying to ways raise awareness about controversial in fact decides which affect the nervous system and have been repeatedly linked to. the demonstration then made its way to the white house all sorts of activists students even young children our gannett farmers caterers chefs so real wide range of people there are a lot of veterans actually showed up to talk about the dangers of g m o's just outside the white

the aztecs' concern for agriculture was symbolized by the deities of water. although land for agriculture on the island of tenochtitlan was limited, there were thousands of acres of swamp bordering their lake. with a massive state-supported engineering project, they turned the swamps into a unique and highly productive form of agriculture called the floating garden or chinampas. just outside mexico city, chinampas are still farmed by aztec descendants. interpreter: our ancestors were the aztecs. they made this. they worked hard to lay out these fields. we have continued to used the fields, but they made all of this. keach: the aztecs reclaimed the swampland by digging drainage canals and building up plots of land from weeds and mud. then they planted willow trees along the edges. the roots of the trees held the plot together. this whole area here, about 40,000 acres, was a huge combination of lake and swamp. you can see how large this area is by just looking off to the south, because the lake extended all the way to the edge of those mountains over here. keac

applications including precision agriculture as well as infrastructure inspection so everything from pipelines, bridges, you know, power lines, levees. >> do you suppose people are afraid of them, drones in general, because of the predator? because we've been introduced to drones in a military context, or because of some sort of robotic thing? and an example i give is, you know, they say they don't want news agencies to have drones. we have a helicopter with guys in it. you know, we can send a flying thing over your house. >> so does law enforcement, right? >> right. so do they. it's not a whole lot different. >> i think people hear the word "drone," and they only have one thing that comes to mind right now. it's what they've seen on nbc or cnn. they hear about the predator, the drone, how it's being used in the military which is essentially one application. i think this technology is similar to gps. gps is a technology that was absolutely developed for the military with military funding. and if you had asked people 15, 20 years ago whether they were willing to all carry around a gps

as populations expanded, so did the agricultural fields.they receded, the forests moved back into the valley. the evidence of a gradual process of population collapse seemed conclusive. a new theory would be required to explain it. initially, the theories were geared toward a very sudden catastrophic collapse, such as a peasant revolt against the elite population or a major earthquake that made the area no longer habitable for a period of time or a major famine or epidemic that killed off masses of population. those have been theories that have been suggested for the maya collapse for hundreds of years. sanders: before we did the obsidian hydration project here at copan, most scholars thought that the maya collapse was a very rapid process. now, this was a pretty spectacular historical event, and it intrigued many scholars over the years. there were probably as many explanations as there were archaeologists. the most enduring explanation over the years, however, has always been an ecological one -- something must have happened to these peop

when you think of agriculture most of us picture land. you're awaring technology helping to take care of the land and thing that's grow on it. here is a app monitoring when a cow is putting out miles from the source. >> so you look and this is how much fik. >> not sure your crops are getting enough water? there is an app for that, too it tell meez they're dry. >> that is famous for being hands on. >> california agricultural leadership program wants these high schooler students to know if they love technology, agriculture is a field for them. >> no longer in a notebook. it's broo breathing and living. we can add to it at any point in time. >> students are often surprised to find out that tractors are sort of like smart phones but without phones they have a gps system. you can program them. >> sor i. i couldn't resist. >> we know how we've been. >> suzanne was thrilled to know she can work in the field without leaving the office. >> you can sit around and still get paid for it. >> after today jenna is convinced she wants to be a vet. >> spe

you don't see any of that in agriculture. >> they don't ask, "is she 12?". they just want their job done. >> how many of you get up before 5 o'clock in the morning? intertaking produce that would have been throanl away and transforming into a healthy meals for our clients. 5,000 meals every day come out of this building and are distributed to 88 nonprofits that are around the city. >> incredible. welcome back. what you're looking at is food donated to a d.c. area charity that couldn't be sold in stores because it just didn't look right. the organization says in 2012 it recovered 700,000 pounds of food that just didn't look right and transformed it into almost 2,000 healthy meals. woj, an innovation, a lot of people are tweeting in. >> z shawn said, apps can help you keep shopping lists and in fact of what you can do to help reduce food waste. leftover swap, hungry and cheap we understand. you can see all the available lefovers around your neighborhood and arrange for a pickup or delivery. 222 million tons. another app, a meal planning app that helps you make

department of agriculture. why the usda? well, for historical and litical reasons, food stamps fall under the agricultural domain. in fact, food stamps will cost taxpayers $78 billion this year. a staggering amount that's more than doubled since 2008. indeed food stamps and other food assistance add up to 70% of the usda's outlays. according to its fox news poll, a majority of voters think most of the 46 million-plus food stamp recipients are taking advantage of the system and not truly in need. you've heard storys of food stamp waste, fraud and abuse. well, this hour will also look at the cost to the recipients. and to the american character. during this show, you can share your shouts via twitter. be sure to use hash tag fox news reporting. we begin in new york city where one of america's most energetic proponent of food stamps is working to get more people signed up. >> individuals have a certain income limitation. >> you're watching a team of determined activists, preparing their plan of action. >> guidelines change a li

so agriculture became more and more sophisticated and it turned to be more of business. and from there, the leak to high tech to more sophisticated technologies was very short. so today i would say most of our economy is based on technology, medical device, clean tech and maybe 2% is agriculture still. >> and when you describe the population of israel, i think a lot of people don't know that the real racial cultural religious and in some cases class diversity exists in the country. >> that is a lecture by itself, but i will try to summarize it. in israel, it is a center for three imagine religions, islam, judaism and christian at this time. and there are many jews, muslims and christians in israel. when it comes to the jewish population it's also very diversified. israel has jews of that lived there for 2,000 years and never left but also have a lot of immigrants. my wife's family, they are there from the 1880s. so my wife was an eighth generation and those are the first generation like myself. my family, my own family, they i am grated to israel when i was -- i am went

agricultural reports from the national agriculture statistics service aren't available to farmers. these reports are crucial resources that farmers need to make decisions, such as how to price crops, which commodities to grow and when to sell those commodities and the reports enable farmers to track cattle auction prices. not only has nass stopped putting out new reports about demand and supply, export and prices, but all web sites with past information have been taken down because of the government shutdown. farmers aren't receiving assistance from farm programs. the department of agriculture local farm service offices have been shut down because of the shutdown, and as a result farmers can't apply for new loans, sign up for acreage for farm programs or receive government checks for the programs they are already enrolled in. devastating to so many of our -- our people living on fixed incomes in north dakota who have engaged and basically put their land into the conservation reserve program is consequencevation reserve checks are not being issued. that has a huge impact, particular

it offers programs about sustain able agriculture. including cooking, programs and youth group. and they have cooking demonstrations top bay area chefs and they demonstrate recipes and ingredients purchased that morning. i have offered several pieces of legislation. i'm appreciative of the work that mr. stock dale and colleagues have done to contribute to the promotion of the sustain able agriculture and our food system. i want to thank you on behalf of the organization. please join me in thanking him. [ applause ] >> thank you very much for this very unusual recognition because we are not a restaurant. we are the supplier to the restaurants. and that is a critical link that we are proud to be part of. many of the san francisco restaurants are world famous for their commitment to using local fresh seasonal and sustainable ingredients. that's made possible by the unparallel diversity and quality of products available here in northern. and our non-profit is very proud to be the place where those farmers, food artisans, restaurants, home cooked and where we can all gather and celeb

john: now they cannot make a profit without the agricultural department? >> they should they should not be farmers. but if they permanently got out of this line of business they would rely on themselves or the volunry americans not the government john: the last time it shut down both parties agree it was a terrible thing. >> never ever shut the federal government down again. [cheers and applause] john: they applauded. >> of course, because some of the start to realize that these busybodies in washington d.c. are not necessary for our daily lives. and then of course, that is bad for both republicans and democrats. john: the stock market did fine in this time there has not been a crash. but if it shrink city should be good for the economy and the stock market. john: this sequester cut 5% from discretionary spending which is one-third of the budget. politicians screamed it would be terrible. >> we are hurting the military community, and middle-class families, and that is what this so-called sequestered means. thinks. >> katy think one thing in your life that

columbia's agricultural sector has been campaigning for weeks demanding additional subsidies from theuthorities and reforms to the country's land policy. the nationwide movement has been perceiving -- receiving a great deal of online coverage and support from artists. well-known artists and committed activists come together and recently uploaded this track written for colombian farmers. they have celebrities literally singing the praises of the agricultural sector reminding the government it is high time they paid attention to the farmers. >> ♪ >> the initiative has been given a warm reception on social networks where users have been posting to let authorities know they believe taking care of the farmers is of the utmost importance. they need to be able to continue working in decent and economically viable conditions. this particular project has inspired others. another group of artists has come to music to show support for colombian farmers. it features a number of well- known faces singing about how important the agricultural tradition is to them. >> ♪ >> french web users have been

earlier today we spoke with agriculture secretary. >> a lot of people don't understand the risks associatedfarming. farmers may spend 500 or more dollars an acre putting in a crop. and they can lose some or all of their operation in an entire year. that's why it is important to have the safety net for farmers. >> now despite being called the farm bill, up to 80% of the money in it goes to food stamps. since the recession the number of americans on food stamps has risen to 48 million. republicans say the program is costly and wasteful, with too many recipients that weren't really needy. the democratically controlled senate passed a bill that would reduce the food stamp program by $4 billion over the next decade. sounds like a lot, right? the house has passed a version that cuts out $40 billion, ten times as much over the next ten years now it's up to both sides to reconcile the two bills. patricia sabga reports. >> reporter: food stamps are one of the most hotly contested issues in the farm bill and an enduring source of political controversy since they were created. the first food stamp pro

a swiss agricultural chemical corporation that first wanted to commercialize the miracle rice and changed its mind. and a country where tests are being carried out that would be prohibited in other places. researchers who manipulate crops are demanding more freedom the freedom to conduct their research free of political constraints they feel the moratorium that has been imposed on genetic technology for years unfairly hinders them in their efforts but public distrust of genetic manipulation has been immense for many years. artificially modifying the genetic structure of plants and animals scares people also because researchers are hesitant to reveal their secrets and explain exactly what it is they are doing. to make it. in this tense and polarized atmosphere professor ingle put trike as. an engineering science technology mathematics and management university has created in a greenhouse a strain of genetically engineered rice that contains pro vitamin a the rice is intended to benefit under nourished people not feed the profit of the agricultural industry. the whole food as i hold the mot

you've got all the elders, the founders of the sustainable agriculture movement gathered here and we're all now involved with the need for a transition towards more sustainable food systems. >> i do see this as a defense of democracy and freedom, for survival. and so i'm here. >> it was just a year ago on earth day you said, "people who own the world outright for profit will have to be stopped by influence, by power, by us." and some of us who have read you and followed you took that as an indication that maybe, maybe the mad farmer is getting a little madder, a little more radical. >> well i have grown more radical the older i've become. i don't remember saying that, but it sounds like me. >> which is why i could have made it up, but i didn't. >> well, when you say you have to stop somebody, in our time, you would -- ought to qualify. you don't mean bomb them. and i didn't mean stop them by violence, but they do have to be stopped. >> the contrariness of the mad farmer. i am done with apologies. if contrariness is my inheritance and destiny, so be it. if it is my mission to go in at ex

a lot of our exports are basically agricultural. tropical agricultural products such as bananas, coffee, cocoa, also fishery products such as shrimp, tuna. > >and artichokes. and roses as well. > >yes. the best flowers in the world. > >your country is growing. it's stable as you say. what kind of investment opportunities are there for americans to buy into? > >many. at this moment we are privatizing many sectors in the country. for example, we want to develop the petrochemical industry. we want to develop shipyards. we are also going into high tech areas such as biotechnology, nanotechnology, software and hardware development. also services such as tourism. ecuador has enormous tourist potential. we have the galapagos islands which is unique so we're looking for investment in those sectors. but of course the traditional ones such as agriculture and the production of food. > >are there some barriers you wish are removed? > >yes, hopefully in both sectors we are ready to dialogue with the united states and help trade go. > >well, mr.