New wheat crisis plagues world food supply
Posted
Mar 27 2008, 03:46 AM
by
Jon Markman
Rating:
If it seems like you are paying more for your cereal, beer and pizza lately, shake your fist in the direction of Pakistan, Uganda and Argentina, because a weird confluence of international events are combining to slash the world supply of wheat and boost prices. The downside of globalization is that a crop failure 10,000 miles away can lead to pricier brewskis here.
It's actually a lot more serious than that. The New Scientist magazine reports that a wheat disease that started in central Africa actually threatens to destroy most of the world wheat crop, leaving millions to starve. A fungus called Ug99 has already spread from Africa to Iran and is bearing down on Pakistan, according to the report. This is bad news because Pakistan and Punjab wheat is extremely important to the entire food chain of the densely populous plains of South Asia.
According to reports, scientists hope to slow the spread of Ug99 by spraying new forms of fungicide but the only real firebreak will come when agronomists are able to create Ug99-resistant strains of wheat over the next few years. The disease, which is said to be a super-strong strain of black stem rust, first came to light in Uganda in 1999 and has since ruined crops in Kenya, Ethiopia and Yemen. Now winds are expected to take the spores to Egypt, Turkey, Syria and Iran. Chinese scientists are said to be on a crash program to develop Ug99-resistant wheat strains before the disease ravages its already weakened croplands.
Meanwhile, down in Argentina, a three-week protest by farmers has curtailed shipments of wheat into supermarkets, pushing that country into its worst political crisis since 2002. News media report that thousands of farmers are withholding meat and grains from wholesalers and blocking country roads to oppose a hike in export taxes. Argentina’s president, Cristina Kirchner, has accused farmers of extortion, while protesters fill streets, banging pots and pans.
Food shortages in Buenos Aires are worsening, and the media reports that shops have run out of beef and chicken, while fruits and vegetables are soaring in price. The government is said to be digging in its heels on the tax increases that it believes are necessary to support social programs such as fuel and health care subsidies, while farmers say they are being unfairly targeted. The upshot is that the turmoil has also curtailed exports, putting strains on world wheat prices.
For more on the worldwide food crisis, see my column of March 6, "Could we really run out of food?"
