The ongoing food crises in 36 countries around the globe are a cause of worry for major institutions such as the World Bank because the problems signal profound problems of disbalance in the world economy. The main reasons behind the high food prices in poor countries are the high oil price and market liberalization shocks. Biofuel crops are hardly a factor. Climate change is something that has played a role for as long as everyone can remember and it's only being recognized now.

FOOTBALL-SIZED tomotoes, carrot-sized chillies and pumpkins that look like huge round rocks are what Chinese are growing to make a

Governments are set to miss a self-imposed goal of slowing the rate of extinctions by 2010 and as a result are putting long-term food supplies at risk, a top environmentalist said before a UN biodiversity conference. Jim Leape, Director General of the WWF, told Reuters that countries at the May 19-30 UN Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in the German city of Bonn must admit they are doing too little and step up their commitments.

THE government has amended rules related to public sector imports to ensure swift sourcing of essential commodities, such as rice and wheat, to rein in prices. The move would allow public sector companies to contract commodities from the global market without having to go through elaborate tendering process. The move to this effect has been cleared by a committee of secretaries (CoS) headed by cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar.

Every week, a fax machine in economic advisor's office at Udyog Bhawan, which houses the commerce and industry ministry, receives price data for items in the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) basket. The data have to be the actual transaction price effective each Friday and is to be submitted on a voluntary basis every week.

Lanka warns rice hoarders: In the face of soaring food prices, the Sri Lankan government has said it would come down heavily on rice hoarders and traders flouting a price control order on rice

in the first week of April, thousands of people stormed the presidential palace in Haiti, throwing stones and demanding the resignation of President Rene Preval over soaring food prices. In

The claim

This refers to the editorial