Switch to other crops among reasons for soaring prices of rice worldwide
Straits Times 18 Apr 08;
DENILIQUIN (AUSTRALIA) - SOUTHERN Australia's Deniliquin rice mill once processed enough grain to feed 20 million people a day, but it closed in December, after six years of drought almost destroyed Australia's rice crop.
The collapse of Australia's rice production - which has fallen by 98 per cent - is one of several factors contributing to a doubling of rice prices.
Drought affects every agricultural industry here, from sheep herding to the cultivation of wine grapes.
The chief executive of the National Farmers' Federation in Australia, Mr Ben Fargher, says: 'Climate change is potentially the biggest risk to Australian agriculture.'
But it is the effect on rice that has made the greatest impact on the rest of the world.
Scientists believe it is among the earliest signs that a warming planet is starting to affect food production.
And it has already spurred significant changes in Australia's agricultural heartland.
Some farmers are abandoning rice, which requires large amounts of water, to plant less water-intensive crops such as wheat or wine grapes, while others have sold their fields or water rights, usually to grape growers.
Scientists and economists worry that the reallocation of scarce water resources away from rice and other grains and towards more lucrative crops and livestock threatens poor countries that import rice as a dietary staple.
Other countries are confronting different pressures on rice-growing land.
Manila yesterday announced a ban on converting farmland to other uses in the latest move to cut imports of rice, which have more than doubled in price since the beginning of the year.
The Philippines - currently the world's top rice importer - said the ban was aimed at property developers cashing in on a booming market by snapping up choice farmland.
A day earlier, with Manila unveiling plans to become self-sufficient in rice and other vital crops by 2010, Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman had said: 'There is a need for us to review our existing guidelines.
'We have to strike a balance between food production and development.'
And in a sign of further trouble ahead, China yesterday revealed that its farmland had shrunk to near-critical levels last year.
The rush in modern China to turn traditional farming areas into industrial zones or residential areas for expanding cities was again one of the factors behind the decline, the China Daily said, citing the Land Ministry.
The ministry said the amount of arable land fell by 40,700ha to 121.73 million ha.
The government has for many years warned of a critical situation when the amount of farming land fell to 120 million ha, and it is now trying to devise ways to use what is left more efficiently.
NEW YORK TIMES, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
