Kanan Devan Hills Plantations Company (KDHP) that owns and runs Tata Tea estates in Munnar (Kerala), is planning to go global by entering into a joint venture with a tea company in Vietnam and acquiring management control of an Ethiopian tea estate.

When plants become desiccated, tiny leaf pores collectively called stomata close to conserve water. Each stoma is flanked by a pair of ‘guard cells’, which change shape to open or close the central pore.

Pests and diseases already destroy about a third of potential cocoa production, and with climate change there will be a greater threat to future supplies of cocoa.

Raw sugar prices climbed to their highest level in 29 years on 1 February, with raw sugar ­for March delivery reaching 30.05 US cents a pound in early afternoon trading on ICE Futures US.

Mali had some 30mn chickens, ducks, guinea fowl and turkeys in 2005, but not enough protein-rich poultry products are consumed locally, according to the government and nutritionists.