Rice prices ‘could rise sharply’
The price of rice could rise sharply, causing another shortage of the staple grain, the International Rice Research Institute has warned.
The Philippines-based institute says the price of rice has risen recently.
Last year the price hit levels not seen in decades, which led to shortages - and riots - in many countries.
“We don’t have a lot of buffers. We really need to produce another record rice crop to survive, to keep the price low,” the institute’s Sam Mohanty says.
There are concerns this year’s harvest may not live up to expectations because of poor weather and a lack of the credit that farmers need to buy fertiliser.
The Thai Rice Exporters Association has increased the price of its benchmark white rice by 3% in the past week to $608 a tonne. It is the fourth consecutive week of increases.
“That is pretty high. The market is still pretty tight,” Mr Mohanty told the BBC.
Export bans
A year ago rice cost $370 a tonne but shot up to nearly $1,000 in mid-May 2009.
Earlier this week the Philippines agreed to buy at least a million tonnes of rice from the Vietnamese