Algeria and Italy sign $455 million agriculture deal

Algeria and Italy have signed a $455 million) agreement for an agricultural project in the North African country, the Algerian agriculture ministry said in a statement.
   The scheme, which Italian officials called their country's largest
agricultural investment in the southern Mediterranean, covers 36,000 hectares
(89,000 acres) in Algeria's Timimoune province.
   It will produce wheat, lentils and beans, among other foods, in the hopes
of increasing Algerian non-hydrocarbon exports, officials said during the
agreement ceremony.
   It is also expected to create 6,700 jobs, they said.
   The deal came months after Algeria signed a $3.5 billion agreement with
Qatar's largest dairy producer Baladna to establish a vast cow-breeding
facility for the production of powdered milk.