With a view to revive the negotiations in the multilateral trade, the WTO released two revised draft texts on Monday evening

A World Trade Organisation agreement removing barriers to commerce is "absolutely essential'' to bring down soaring food prices, European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said. "We have to address the underlying problems of demand and supply of food,'' he said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Monday in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where he and hundreds of business executives are attending the Middle East's World Economic Forum. "To do that, we have to bring about a fundamental reform of trade in the world, and that can only be brought about by a WTO deal.''

Fuel From The Fields: A Balance-Sheet What are biofuels? Made from renewable sources, biofuels promise a viable, eco-friendly substitute to fossil fuels. Can be made from a variety of crops like maize, sugarcane, beetroot, palm oil, jatropha-anything that is rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Typically, blended with petrol or diesel. Why are they controversial? Countries like the US are diverting their corn and maize crops to produce biofuels, thus contributing to the tight foodgrain position and spiralling global prices. What are the types of biofuel?

From panacea to pariah, biofuels have come full circle. Not unlike other advances of modern sciences

This global food crisis is a complex problem that cannot be solved with simplistic approaches.

The most important safety valve as far as food supply is concerned is the short production cycle. That rising food prices are a global phenomenon is well-known. Perhaps not as salient are the differences in the intensity of food inflation across the world. Focusing on Asia, while all countries have seen significant surges in the prices of all major food items, the variation in the rate of price increases is quite striking. Apart from agricultural policy and food security in the region, this has implications for the immediate macroeconomic scenario.

Even as the current negotiations in the Doha Round of world trade talks on agriculture have entered a crucial phase, developed nations are trying to push their commercial interests in the farm sector, undermining the livelihood and food security issues of the developing countries like India. All eyes will be on the revised texts on agriculture and non-agriculture market access, which are likely to be released on Monday, to see how these issues are reflected in them.

The total number of food insecure people was probably closer to about three billion, or about half the population of the world, according to the United Nations midyear update of the World Economic Situation and Prospects. In addition, approximately 18,000 children die daily as a direct or indirect consequence of inadequate nutrition, the UN report says.

The Punjab government has asked the Centre to include the state in the National Food Security Mission (NFSM)-Rice to ensure higher contribution to the Central pool of foodgrains.

The Punjab government has asked the Centre to include the entire state in the National Food Security Mission (NFSM)-Rice to ensure better contribution to the Central Pool of food-grains on one hand and the long-term National Food Security due to improved ecological sustainability of agriculture production pattern in the state, on the other.