India stops selling rice as costs soar!

INDIA - April 1, 2008 - The export of all non-basmati rice from India has been halted amid growing concerns about depleting world food storages.

The move was prompted by a 13-month-high inflation figure, which in turn is being blamed on the soaring global cost of food.

India's government also scrapped import taxes for edible oil and maize, extended a current export ban on pulses, such as peas and beans, and the sale of basmati rice was upped by £50 per metric tonne.

India's finance minister Palaniappan Chidambaram blamed the jump in crude oil and grain prices for the current situation.

He said India must learn to aim for self-sufficiency to avoid "importing inflation".

Globally, declining food supplies are causing anger among populations and making politicians nervous.

The shortages are said to be a result of higher oil prices, world weather patterns, an increasing demand from developing countries - including India - and the use of rural land for biofuels.

According to UN figures, worldwide food prices rose 35% in the year to January 2008 - but have sharply risen by 65% since then.