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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | New rice crisis cannot be ruled out: International Rice Research Institute

New rice crisis cannot be ruled out: International Rice Research Institute

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published Published on May 27, 2011   modified Modified on May 27, 2011
-The Economic Times
 
A repeat of the 2008 rice crisis that led to riots in the developing world cannot be ruled out as the cost of other agricultural goods surge, a research group has warned.

The International Rice Research Institute said the global rice market was delicately balanced as the grain had managed to avoid huge price rises thanks to stable weather in rice growing regions.

The cost of wheat surged 121 percent over the eight months to February, maize jumped 92 percent and sugar 80 percent higher due to bad weather and rising global demand for commodities.

However, at the same time rice prices rose just 17 percent due to good harvests in 2010.

But the IRRI, in its quarterly Rice Today magazine, said the possibility of panic-buying of the staple similar to that three years ago could send prices soaring again.

Rice prices nearly tripled from $362 a tonne in December 2007 to almost $1,000 in April 2008 as stocks fell to 30-year lows amid surging global demand, IRRI data show.

"The rice sector has been fortunate to have escaped the wrath of the weather," the magazine report said.

"However, similar panic actions by other rice-consuming countries may tilt the market to an override mode and possibly cause a repeat of 2008."

The institute said rising prices of other food commodities had forced rice-eating countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia and Myanmar to either dramatically boost their rice inventories or impose export bans.

This echoed similar moves by major rice exporters in 2008, which led to the spike in prices, leading to riots in several developing countries.

The institute, credited with the "Green Revolution" that dramatically increased grain yields in the 1970s, said 2010 global rice inventories were 20 million tonnes higher compared with 2008 levels.

However the report warned that "the ongoing drought in northern China could provide the necessary spark to fuel another round of grain price escalation."

Additionally, monsoon disruptions in the Indian subcontinent and farmers shifting to competing crops that are enjoying dramatic price rises could also tip the balance, the report added.

"Ultimately, the weather in the coming months will be critical in deciding the fate of the (rice) market," it added.


The Economic Times, 27 May, 2011, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/agriculture/new-rice-crisis-cannot-be-ruled-out-international-rice-research-institute/articleshow/8600117.cms


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