Australian Fruit&Vegs Growers Stricken by Severe Drought

55.000 farmers of the Murray- basin in the east who supply really all of Australia's vegetables, stone fruit, citrus fruit, cotton and rice fear for possible a ban on irrigation systems in this agricultural heartland and in consequence drastic shortage of the crops. The reason is the worst drought in the nation's history. Food prices are expected to increase rapidly and there are predictions that many growers would be forced to leave their land. Ben Fargher, head of the National Farmers' Federation, predicts that supplies of stone fruit, grapes, avocados and almonds would be seriously affected for years. When trees died, it takes four or five years for replant trees to produce fruit. Joy Sutton, who farms with her husband on the border of New South Wales and Victoria, said they would abandon their stone fruit trees and that many other farmers would give up.