U.N. predicts bigger swings in food supply

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- A U.N. agency says the 2010 global wheat harvest is one of the largest ever but experts say a less stable climate will mean bigger food supply fluctuations.

The United Nations reported a 5 percent rise in food prices in August, The New York Times said. Contributing factors included a Russian ban on wheat exports because drought has cut the harvest by 20 percent and flooding in Canada and Argentina.

In Mozambique, 10 people died and 300 were hurt in recent riots at least partly caused by a sharp jump in bread prices. The unrest was a reminder of the situation in 2008 when riots occurred in several countries.

This year's wheat harvest is the third-biggest ever and food prices are still about 30 percent below 2008 levels.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, based in Rome, has scheduled a Sept. 24 conference of agricultural experts. Abdolreza Abbassian, an FAO economist, said Friday other grain suppliers can make up for the loss of wheat from Russia but psychological factors come into play when supplies are disrupted.

Professor Per Pinstrup-Anderson of Cornell University said climate change will bring more extreme weather in many areas.

"We are going to have much bigger fluctuations in weather and therefore the food supply than we had in the past, so we are going to have to learn how to cope with fluctuating food prices," he said.