Page Suggestions: Bible Prophecy, Last days people, Persecution in End Times, Population Control

Tensions rise as world faces short rations

Page 2

"I was involved in a government that introduced food subsidies in Ireland and we had the devil's own job to get rid of them," said Bruton, who was Prime Minister of Ireland from 1994 to 1997.

Others trust that better fertilizers and higher-yielding crops — some of them genetically modified — will keep production in line with demand. Bruce Babcock, an economist at Iowa State University, said the rising markets are a signal to farmers that they need to raise production.

"It's actually the greatest time in the world to be a farmer around the world," Babcock said. "We are going to see fairly substantial increases in production because farmers have never had such a large incentive to increase production." But others note that expensive seeds and fertilizers are out of reach of farmers in poor countries.

Around the beginning of the 19th Century, British political economist Thomas Malthus said population had the potential to grow much faster than food supply, a prediction that efficient farming consistently proved wrong. Now, at the beginning of the 21st century, some are revisiting his predictions.

UK farmers can help avoid global food shortages as rations are introduced

UK farmers have been told they can help alleviate global concerns over food security, as sales of rice were rationed in the UK and America to protect dwindling supplies.

Wal-Mart, which owns Asda, has introduced the US's first food rationing, while shops in Asian neighbourhoods in the UK have limited sales to prevent hoarding. Wal-Mart customers have been limited to four bags of rice per visit as people stocked up to protect themselves from rising costs.

Pricing

Rice prices across the world have doubled in the past year, while exports have been blocked by India, China, Vietnam and Egypt to ensure their own populations can buy it. The move by retailers follows government debate with retailers and farming officials over how to manage food inflation and security.

Easing concerns

Speaking to Farmers Weekly, NFU President Peter Kendall UK farmers were well-placed to help ease concerns over food supplies. "The more we produce here, the less pressure we put on producers elsewhere," he said. "I hope the debate will enable the NFU and the farming industry to have a more constructive debate with government about the role we play in global food supplies."