AGRICULTURE

Dole Food Co. Ends Talks to Sell Dried-Fruit Unit: The Westlake Village-based company, which had planned to sell the business to Sun-Diamond Growers for about $100 million, attributed the decision to the impending growing season and the prospect of a long antitrust review of the proposed deal. Dole said grower commitments in the dried-fruit industry for the coming harvest are established in early summer and would make the sale more complicated. As a result, the company said, it will immediately complete its new dried-fruit processing plant in Malaga, Calif., and start operations ahead of the coming dried-fruit season. Dole’s stock rose 75 cents to $29.25 on the New York Stock Exchange.