Lederer Republished from The Independent Millions starve to keep the gas price down A UN expert yesterday called the growing practice of turning crops into biofuel a crime against humanity because it has created food shortages and sent food prices soaring, leaving millions of poor people hungry. Lederer Republished from The Independent Millions starve to keep the gas price down A UN expert yesterday called the growing practice of turning crops into biofuel a crime against humanity because...

Any shortage of this key phosphatic fertiliser at this stage can jeopardise the production prospects of wheat, among other rabi crops. Whatever the causes, only a part of the needed 3 million tonnes of imported DAP may actually land at Indian ports in time for the rabi crop planting. To compound the problem, the domestic production of DAP has been relatively low this year due to policy uncertainties and problems in procuring phosphoric acid. While the wheat harvest could be hit by a DAP...

Across Iowa, the total acres of "potential habitat" (ground planted with hay, oats or wheat or enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program) dwindled by 30 percent from 1990 to 2005. The president of the South Dakota Corn Utilization Council, who is both a farmer and a pheasant hunting guide, published a scathing op-ed last month in a Sioux Falls newspaper accusing "Chicken Littles" in his state of "outrageously blaming corn and ethanol for declining pheasant numbers" when, in reality,...

The country is in the process of harvesting a record soyabean crop, while there is a rebound in the groundnut crop. Aided by an improved southwest monsoon performance that helped soyabean and groundnut crops, the output of major cultivated oilseeds during the ongoing kharif 2007 season is seen 25 per cent higher from last year. Even as soyabean has consistently stayed ahead of groundnut production for some years now, in the current season groundnut in-shell output has rebounded to 52....

The country had earlier in the year set a winter wheat target of 76 000ha but owning to serious shortages of inputs and other resources, only 51 000ha were put under production. He said each province had been targeted to produce at least 2 400 tonnes of wheat per hactare. He said there was need to review wheat price and improve transportation, especially from farms to GMB. Mr Gumbo said transport problems and unviable wheat prices had affected production and delivery levels. To contact the...

It said filling the gap by purchasing wheat from domestic market would have adversely affected the consumers as the price of the product would have risen due to increased demand. The government has been in the midst of controversy over its decision to import the grain at a rate of US $325 per ton which many contend is too high. New Delhi: The Centre has sought the dismissal of a public interest litigation (PIL) on wheat imports saying that the court should not interfere in its decision...

With the market in tight supply, the job of the market is to encourage South American producers to plant enough acres to increase world ending stocks. The market has rallied, as it has put in a premium to attract acres, and this premium is likely to be removed once South American planting is under way. The United States is unlikely to produce another record-large crop in 2008, as corn acres will no doubt be reduced next spring, leaving end users to purchase corn during harvest, which will...

Farmers in Pakistan, the world's sixth-largest wheat consumer, will harvest 24 million tons of the grain in the marketing year that started July 1, up 3 percent from last year's record of 23. Pakistan has said it plans to import as much as 1 million tons of the grain this year to curb rising food costs caused by a shortage of wheat. Still, the price is up 63 percent in the past year as the rally was fueled by adverse weather that hurt the world's crops. Wheat prices had surged to a record...

Wheat prices have surged across the world as four out of the world's five main wheat exporters experienced major difficulties turning out a good crop. Higher prices for wheat, corn and other grains have been slowly working their way through the economy, putting upward pressure on everything from bread and other baked goods to cereal. Tim Hortons has focused on competing in the broader general coffee market - not against high-end coffee retailers such as Starbucks - and has tried to keep...