FAO announced a couple of days ago that “Rice production in Asia, Africa and Latin America is forecast to reach a new record level in 2008”. I’m astounded. Imagine that. Farmers respond to higher prices by planting more. And in other press-stopping news, the Corriere della Sera said yesterday that farmers in Afghanistan are abandoning fusty old opium poppies for wheat, lured by a tripling of wheat prices. Right, that’s going to continue.
Hilarious! BTW – your second link is broken – leads to the same place as the first.
Ooops. Thanks for that. Fixed now.
Strangely, maize plantings in the US are forecast to drop 8%, while soybeans increase 18% and wheat by 6%, according to this report. I haven’t been able to find more recent estimates.