82 / SEEDWORLD.COM FEBRUARY 2018 Agrium Inc. announced that Crop Production Services (CPS), the retail business unit of Agrium, recently settled with the U.S. Department of Justice over claims that CPS discriminated against U.S. workers to fill a small number of temporary seasonal technician positions at its rice seed facility in Texas. These positions were filled under the previously used H-2A foreign workers visa program, the last time the program was used by the company was in 2016. U.S. officials will impose stricter quality controls on exports of soybeans headed to China in response to a request from the government in Beijing, a move that may curb some American shipments. Shipments with impurity levels below a new standard of 1 percent, half the current level, will receive priority for shipment, while soybeans above it may be held back for more cleaning, U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesman William Wepsala said. A new app that uses a simple photograph of a leaf to provide near-instant automatic diagnosis of diseased crops could prove a major agricultural breakthrough for farmers and producers alike. It has been developed by staff at Manchester Metropolitan University. The idea of the Crop Disease Detector app is to assist arable farmers to improve their yield by giving them quicker and more accurate data on which to base their disease control strategies and therefore stop their harvests being diminished by infection. Nufarm and Sumitomo have voluntarily recalled fungicides used in pulse crops from the market due to product quality issues. Nufarm has recalled its Spin Flo (carbendazim) systemic fungicide manufactured prior to August this year, while Sumitomo has recalled INDUSTRY NEWS Delivering the people, industry, business and product news you need to know. Submissions are welcome. Email us at news@issuesink.com. The Illinois Crop Improvement Association became the newest member of the Seed Innovation and Protection Alliance (SIPA). SIPA is an educational program from the American Seed Trade Association, established to promote the value of seed innovations and encourage continued innovation in the seed industry as well as to create a unified and consistent voice for education and best practices around intellectual property protection and its value to our society. SIPA currently has over 75 members from throughout the seed industry. You can find more information on the SIPA program at www.seedipalliance.com. all batches of Motac 500 SC (carbendazim) made in the same period. Both chemicals have similar chemistry and are used for control of chocolate spot and grey mould in chick peas, faba beans, lentils and vetch. They are also used for control of macadamia husk spot in macadamia trees. USDA is offering grants for innovative ideas for conservation strategies and technologies. USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) plans to invest $10 million in the Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) program, funding innovative conservation projects in three focus areas: grazing lands, organic systems and soil health. Grant proposals are due Feb. 26, 2018. The South Korean government has set lofty goals for the South Korean seed industry in its latest five- year plan. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) revealed that it had completed an industry blueprint for 2018 through 2022. The Seed Industry Act was first passed into law in 2013, when the government decided to grow the seed industry. After the law’s inception, a comprehensive plan was passed, and updates will continue to be released in five-year intervals. The Asia and Pacific Seed Association (APSA) expects the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to be a key driver of Pakistan’s agriculture sector in the coming decade. The multibillion-dollar megaproject includes demonstration plots where high-yielding seed varieties will be developed on some 6,500 acres of agricultural land, which will be acquired by the government of Pakistan and leased out to Chinese breeding companies, the seed association says.