The Democrat nominated former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack as his secretary of agriculture, putting the fervent advocate of corn-based ethanol in charge of the nation's much-criticized 300-billion-dollar farm spending.

Colorado Senator Ken Salazar was tapped to be secretary of the interior, to take over a scandal-hit department that oversees an uneasy balance between conservation and exploitation of federal lands.

"Together they will serve as guardians of the American landscape on which the health of our economy and the well-being of our families so heavily depends," Obama told a news conference.

Obama's cabinet line-up is now largely complete as the president-elect prepares to leave this weekend for a Christmas break in Hawaii.

Still to come are his selections for labor, transportation and the US trade representative, and his intelligence chiefs.

The US trade representative and agriculture secretary have been key players at the World Trade Organization as global trading powers battle, in vain so far, to craft a new liberalization agreement.

US and European farming subsidies are a major bone of contention in the WTO's "Doha" round of talks, while corn-based ethanol is criticized as an inefficient fuel that is serving to drive up world crop prices.

Obama and Vilsack referred only obliquely to those controversies as they mapped out their vision of an agriculture department that defends smaller farmers, not just giant "agri-businesses."

"Tom understands that the solution to our energy crisis will be found not in oil fields abroad but in our farm fields here at home. That's the kind of leader I want in my cabinet," Obama added.

Vilsack, whose state of Iowa is the top US producer of corn, soybeans and hogs, said his focus lay on "improving profitability for farmers and ranchers and expanding opportunities in the rural communities in which they live."

Obama meanwhile pledged to clean up the interior department under the leadership of Salazar, a rancher and farmer whose appointment would trigger what is likely to be a closely fought Senate election in Colorado.

Recent investigations have uncovered cash and sexual favors extended to interior department managers by oil companies, and political meddling against scientific recommendations on the listing of endangered species.

"There have been too many problems and too much emphasis on big-time lobbyists in Washington and not enough emphasis on what's good for the American people, and that's going to change under Ken Salazar," Obama said.

Salazar said he would serve out Obama's promise of a "moon-shot on energy independence" by making "wise use of our conventional natural resources, including coal, oil and gas."

The Colorado senator also promised to protect America's breathtaking national parks, but word of his nomination had already triggered disquiet in the green lobby before Obama's announcement.

Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity, said Obama had won plaudits for the rest of his environmental team, headed by Nobel laureate physicist Steven Chu at energy.

"That team will be weakened by the addition of Ken Salazar, who has fought against federal action on global warming, against higher fuel efficiency standards, and for increased oil drilling and oil subsidies," he said.

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