Washington  - President-elect Barack Obama was expected to name his cabinet picks for the agriculture and interior departments on Wednesday as he battles to round out his cabinet before the end of December.

Colorado Senator Ken Salazar was set to head the Department of the Interior, while Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack was to be tapped for the Department of Agriculture, US media reported.

Obama has vowed a new focus on energy and climate issues when he takes office on January 20, and unveiled the rest of his environmental team earlier on Monday. He has said 5 million "green jobs" can be created by boosting investment in renewable energy.

Obama, who will take charge in the middle of two wars and an economy in recession, has moved much faster than recent presidents in picking his cabinet and top White House advisors.

Most of his foreign policy and economic team is already in place. On Tuesday he named Arne Duncan, a long-time friend who heads Chicago's school system, to be education secretary.

Salazar will become the second Hispanic official in Obama's cabinet, after New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson was named commerce secretary.

The Interior Department is in charge of preserving federally-owned land and has a more limited role than in most countries. The department does not manage law enforcement.

Vilsack, who made an abbreviated run for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, has been a strong supporter of ethanol-based petrol made from maize and produced in much of the Midwest.

The fuel is part of US plans to become more energy independent but has drawn criticism from other parts of the world for driving up the price of maize, a key food staple.

Obama's top picks to lead his energy and climate policy were named Monday. Steven Chu, a Nobel-prize winning physicist and expert on alternative energy, will lead the Department of Energy.

Carol Browner, the country's environmental chief under former president Bill Clinton, will head a new White House office coordinating energy and climate policy. (dpa)