CHANNELS
Encyclopedia Astronautica
SERVICES
 
TerraDaily is downloading
China's rising grain prices could signal global food crisis
BEIJING (AFP) Nov 19, 2003
US environmentalist Lester Brown warned Wednesday that sudden food price hikes in China could be the sign of a coming world food crisis brought on by global warming and increasingly scarce water supplies among major grain producers.

"I view the price rises as an indication, as the warning tremors before the earthquake," Brown, director of the Washington-based Earth Policy Institute, told an audience of Chinese environmental non-governmental organizations.

"World grain harvests have fallen for four consecutive years and world grain stocks are at the lowest level in 30 years. If farmers can't raise production by (late next year) we may see soaring grain and food prices worldwide."

In the past few months, wheat prices in northeast China have shot up 32 percent, maize prices have doubled and rice prices are up by as much as 13 percent, official reports show.

China faces a 40 million ton grain shortfall this year following five years of smaller harvests.

Brown said that the world will be facing a 96 million ton shortfall in grain this year following poor harvests in the United States and India in 2002, and a poor harvest in Europe due to scorching temperatures this year.

Shortfalls worldwide have been made up through dwindling grain reserves.

Brown, described by the Washington Post as "one of the world's most influential thinkers," was in China to unveil the translation of his new book "Plan B, Rescuing a Planet Under Stress."

While grain producers revel in rising prices, Brown said the trends are unsustainable, especially as the world population approaches eight billion by mid-century and as the main grain producers -- China, India and the United States -- face increasing water shortages.

As China's population grows and its people demand a more meat-based diet with rising living standards, China will increasingly have to look to world markets to satisfy grain needs for both food and feed for livestock, he said.

"When China turns to the world market for grain, it will need 30, 40, 50 million tons, more than anyone else in the world imports," Brown said.

"They will first come to US markets, which is going to make a fascinating geo-political situation."

With a 100 billion dollar trade surplus with the United States in 2002, China has "enormous purchasing power" to buy US grain, which "could drive up prices by two times."

Already an increase in Chinese demand for American soybeans, plus last year's bad soybean harvest, have seen prices jump from five dollars a bushel to eight dollars a bushel.

China is expected to announce substantial grain purchases from the US in the weeks ahead of a visit to Washington by Premier Wen Jiabao in December.

Further exacerbating falling grain harvests will be the effects of global warming as increasing scientific evidence reveals that grain production falls when temperatures mount, Brown said.

Studies by the International Rice Institute and the US-based Carnegie Institution have shown that grain production can fall 10 percent with a one degree celsius (1.7 degree fahrenheit) increase in temperature, as the increased heat stresses the plants.

The UN's International Panel on Climate Control has come to the conclusion that global warming from greenhouse gases caused by the burning of fossil fuels will lead to temperature rises from two to five degrees celsius this century.

"This is not encouraging for food security and we may very well be seeing that decisions made at ministries of energy will have a greater effect on food than decisions made at ministries of agriculture," Brown said.

All rights reserved. Copyright 2003 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

Quick Links
TerraDaily
Search TerraDaily
Subscribe To TerraDaily Express


Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
TERRA.WIRE
  • Torrential rains kill dozens in DR Congo capital
  • Torrential rains kill some 30 people in DR Congo capital
  • Rain complicates recovery in quake-hit Myanmar as death toll rises
  • India navy delivers aid to quake-hit Myanmar
  • Myanmar quake death toll passes 3,300: state media
  • 6.9-magnitude quake hits off Papua New Guinea coast: USGS
  • US ups Myanmar quake aid, says others should bear burden
  • Protest as quake-hit Myanmar junta chief joins Bangkok summit
  • Myanmar military conducts over a dozen attacks since truce: UN
  • Myanmar junta chief arrives for summit as quake toll passes 3,000
  • Torrential rains kill dozens in DR Congo capital
  • Torrential rains kill some 30 people in DR Congo capital
  • US storms, 'severe' flooding death toll climbs to 16
  • Artificial glaciers boost water supply in northern Pakistan
  • Lula admits 'still a lot to do' for Indigenous Brazilians
  • Three dead as strong winds, rain lash southern Spain
  • Cuba looks to sun to solve its energy crisis
  • Nations divided ahead of decisive week for shipping emissions
  • CORRECTED: 'It's gone': conservation science in Thailand's burning forest
  • The race to save the Amazon's bushy-bearded monkeys
    SPACEDAILY NEWS
     Feb 03, 2005
  • German Robot On ISS Does Not Work
  • Temple Researcher Attempting To Create Cyclic Ozone
  • Analysis: Columbia's Harsh Lessons
  • NASA Selects Moon Mapper for Mission Of Opportunity
  • Welcome To Rhea: Impact Central
  • Swift Sees Pinwheel Galaxy, Satellite Fully Operational
  • China Launches Satellite TV Service In Asian Region
  • Illegal Dam Building Continues In China, As Strategic Oil Reserve Announced
  • Comsat International Wins Brazil Lottery Network For 9000 Locations
  • Experimental Radar Provides 3-D Forest View
  • Heat Response Evidence For Superfluidity In Cold 'Fermion' Gas
  • Global VC Funds Sharpen Focus On India
  • Oregon May Lead Future Of Wave Energy
  • NETL And Carnegie Mellon Create New Paradigms For Hydrogen Production
  • Analysis: CAN-SPAM, Tough Law Or Baloney
  • 400M Indians Endangered By Ozone Depletion
  • Changes in the Arctic: Consequences for the World
  • Yellow River Delta Being Eroded Away
  • Wax Proves A Perfect Model Of The Earth's Crust
  • Italians Make Earthquake Detecting Space Probe
  • Presumed Death Toll In Asian Tsunamis Passes 290,000
  • Japanese Ship Probes Focus Of Massive Quake That Caused Killer Tsunamis
  • Political Fur Flies Over Marine One Deal
  • Iran Uninterested In Missile That Can Reach Europe: Minister
  • Congress Was Told Of DoD Intel Plan
  • Guardian Targeting Hyperspectral Services For Satellite Reconnaissance
  • Analysis: Pakistan, Israel Put Out Feelers
  • India Closely Watching US Covert Ops In Northwest Pakistan
  • Rumsfeld Asks For Restoration Of Nuclear 'Bunker Buster' Program
  • Aurora Flight Sciences Team Selected For ER/MP First Phase
  • Africa, South Asia Head Climate Change's Hit-List
  • Refugees, Disease, Water And Food Shortages To Result From Global Warming
  • Bill Gates Presents Private-Public Research Plan For European Science
  • Lenovo Chairman Outlines Global Plan After IBM Takeover
  • US Lawmakers Urge EU To Maintain China Arms Embargo
  • Ukraine Leader Expected At NATO Summit
  • US Calls NKorea Back To Nuclear Talks
  • IAEA Chief Challenges Leaders To Beef Up Non-Proliferation Treaty
  • Homes Damaged As New Earthquakes Jolt Indonesia
  • Japanese Villagers Return To Island Five Years After Volcanic Eruption

  • The contents herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2003 - TerraDaily. AFP Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement