Russia is the world's second largest producer of barley after the EU and the cereal crop is used by many farmers as animal feed. Shoppers could see the cost of the meat and poultry in their baskets rise as the price of barley has more than doubled over the past six weeks due to continued fears over the drought affecting Russia and Ukraine. Russia is the world's second largest producer of barley...

Wheat prices surged to a two-year high while shares in European brewers and food producers fell on Friday as markets reacted to the sudden imposition of a ban on grain exports from drought-hit Russia. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin moved decisively on Thursday to halt exports of grain and flour from August 15 to the end of the year and the country’s railroad monopoly said on Friday it will stop loading...

Russia has announced a temporary ban on wheat exports. This is of course not entirely unanticipated. Today, soon after the Russian Prime Minister reportedly announced a temporary grain export ban, prices were seen rising further. Drought conditions have threatened Russian wheat harvest. From record 63.7 million tonnes in 2008-09, wheat production declined by two million tonnes the following year. Drought is now threatening to pull output down to around 50 mt. Russia's wheat exports...

For your sake, and earth’s sake, have fish instead of mutton. If you are truly climate-friendly, go bananas. According to a study that analysed greenhouse gas emissions associated with a set of common Indian food items, fish is a superior alternative to mutton, not just for humans but also for the planet’s health, while bananas are the most climate-friendly. The study, by scientists at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi,...

The legacy of Industrial Agriculture With the world population passing the 6 billion mark last October, the debate over our ability to sustain a fast growing population is heating up. Biotechnology advocates in particular are becoming very vocal in their claim that there is no alternative to using genetically modified crops in agriculture if "we want to feed the world". Actually, that quote might be true. It depends what they mean...