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Storm Warning The world could be one crop failure away from an actual food crisis. Market panic has already started. George Wehrfritz and Jason Overdorf NEWSWEEK Updated: 11:36 AM ET Apr 5, 2008 When all goes well, thunderheads tower above India's southwestern state of Kerala in early June, drenching the region's vital rice fields and ensuring a bountiful harvest. From there the summer monsoon plods northward to soak the baking plains and irrigate vital breadbasket regions that feed 1.1 billion people before arriving at the foot of the Himalayas in August. Forecasting this complex meteorological process has always been an...

Gov’t Promoting Rice Noodles to Beat Grain Shortage The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is promoting rice noodles amid a worldwide shortage of other grain. An official said the ministry has started developing 100 percent rice noodle to increase the consumption of rice and curtail demand for wheat. Only 6,000 tons of rice was used to make noodles last year, but a total of 116,000 tons of other grains were consumed for the purpose. The government plans to divert some of rice imported for making alcoholic drinks to manufacturing noodles. Some 220,000 tons of imported rice is used to make...

America's grain stocks running short By Robert Pore robert.pore@theindependent.com Print Story | e-mail Story | Visit Forums Global demand for grain and oilseeds is at record levels, causing the nation's grain stocks to reach critically low levels, according to Purdue University agricultural economist Chris Hurt. With a weak U.S. dollar and global demand so high, foreign buyers are outbidding domestic buyers for American grain, Hurt said. "Food consumers worldwide are going to have to pay more," Hurt said. "We ended 2007 with our monthly inflation rate on food nearly 5 percent higher. I think we'll see times in 2008 where...