Page 128 of articles about nutrition

A prolonged and severe drought that has ravaged some of China's major grain-producing areas is raising concern about the next harvest, says the Ministry of Agriculture.

Sales of grain from the intervention fund will begin on February 4, 2011. By the end of June 2011 the Government plans to sell at the commodity exchange up to 2.5 million metric tons to livestock producers, feed and flour mills. The start-up price of grain sales will vary by types and by provinces, but the minimum is set at 6,000 rubles ($200) per metric ton.

World food prices surged to a new historic peak in January, for the seventh consecutive month, according to the updated FAO Food Price Index, a commodity basket that regularly tracks monthly changes in global food prices.

The Ministry of Rural Development said Tuesday that the decision to ease the rules came after consultations with the EU and Germany.

The problems in Germany are spreading to Holland, from where traditionally many pig producers transport their pigs to slaughterhouses in Germany.