Among them is Zeneca, where researchers are working on a way of controlling male fertility in maize for the production of hybrids a sort of green vasectomy that can be turned on and off at will.

ECONOMIST: Terminator genes

Turning to pineapple production from maize and cassava promised average returns of more than 1, 200%, according to a 1999 study by Markus Goldstein and Christopher Udry of Yale University.

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America's ethanol subsidy, which has led to a huge rise in production, rocketing maize prices and consequent rioting in Mexico, is the sharpest example of why government should not pick winners: once the fertiliser and fuel used in corn production are taken into account, ethanol is probably not much greener than petrol.

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Kagwanja says the military doesn't have the funding to revive the farms, and is taking a ruthless approach to increasing production of Zimbabwe's staple food, maize.

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Zeneca does this by genetically engineering its maize to produce an enzyme, called ribonuclease, which interferes with pollen production.

ECONOMIST: Terminator genes

It was only this month that France approved commercial production of its first genetically modified crop: a pest-resistant maize from Novartis, a Swiss drug and agricultural company.

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Zeneca's switch-hitting maize plants are now being tested to see how useful they are for hybrid-seed production.

ECONOMIST: Terminator genes

Actress Maize Gomar, in a very short, very tight military uniform, plays a government minister in the production, called News of the Country.

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