2004-4-26
This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
The Food and Agriculture Organization says it expects another
decrease in world grain supplies. The F.A.O. says it expects the
supplies to be eighteen percent lower at the end of the season than
their opening levels last year.
However, world grain production this year is expected to increase
by two percent. That would be three percent above the average of the
last five years.
But decreased production of some crops will affect prices. The
F.A.O. says it expects trade in grains this year to remain slow
mainly because of rising prices.
The F.A.O. is part of the United Nations. The agency released a
World Food Outlook this month. The report has information on wheat,
rice and coarse grains. These include barley, corn and millet.
Wheat supplies have fallen in recent years. China, and recently
India, have reduced their crops. This is partly because the world is
using less wheat. Wheat prices began to increase in July of
two-thousand-three. The recent cuts mean prices will continue to
rise.
Much of the coarse grain crops in the world have not yet been
planted. But the F.A.O. says it expects production to decrease by
one percent from last year. Corn prices have increased over the last
few months.
The world rice crop is expected to increase, but not enough to
satisfy demand. Already, prices for most kinds of rice have
increased since March.
Uses of grain crops change with time. Today, farmers use
one-third of all grains to feed animals. People eat less grain as
their economies develop and their earnings increase. Instead, they
eat more vegetable oils and animal products. This is the case in
China.
At the same time, industrial uses can increase demand for cereal
grains. This is the case with corn. This year, almost half of the
corn not used for food in the United States will go to make alcohol
for fuel.
Grain supplies are a good measure of how the world is producing
and using food. Grains are a central part of the human diet. They
provide protein, fat and starch.
Coarse grains are a major food for about one-thousand-million
people in Africa and Central and South America. Wheat is the main
food for about one-third of all people. But rice is the most popular
cereal grain in the world. It is eaten by about seventy percent of
the population.
This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Mario
Ritter.