<p class="title">World food prices jumped to a new record high in March as the war in Ukraine caused turmoil in markets for staples grains and edible oils, the U.N. food agency said on Friday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) food price index, which tracks the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 159.3 points last month versus an upwardly revised 141.4 for February.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The February figure was previously put at 140.7, which was a record at the time.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Russia and Ukraine are both major exporters of wheat, corn, barley, and sunflower oil via the Black Sea, and Moscow's six-week-old invasion of its neighbour has stalled Ukrainian exports.</p>.<p class="bodytext">FAO warned last month that food and feed prices could rise by up to 20% as a result of the conflict in Ukraine, triggering a jump in global malnourishment.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The agency also cut its estimate of world wheat production in 2022 to 784 million tonnes on Friday from a forecast of 790 million last month as it factored in the possibility that at least 20% of Ukraine's winter crop area would not be harvested.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It lowered its projection of global cereals trade in the 2021/22 marketing year as disruption to Black Sea exports was seen as only being partially offset by increased exports from India, the European Union, Argentina, and the United States. </p>
<p class="title">World food prices jumped to a new record high in March as the war in Ukraine caused turmoil in markets for staples grains and edible oils, the U.N. food agency said on Friday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) food price index, which tracks the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 159.3 points last month versus an upwardly revised 141.4 for February.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The February figure was previously put at 140.7, which was a record at the time.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Russia and Ukraine are both major exporters of wheat, corn, barley, and sunflower oil via the Black Sea, and Moscow's six-week-old invasion of its neighbour has stalled Ukrainian exports.</p>.<p class="bodytext">FAO warned last month that food and feed prices could rise by up to 20% as a result of the conflict in Ukraine, triggering a jump in global malnourishment.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The agency also cut its estimate of world wheat production in 2022 to 784 million tonnes on Friday from a forecast of 790 million last month as it factored in the possibility that at least 20% of Ukraine's winter crop area would not be harvested.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It lowered its projection of global cereals trade in the 2021/22 marketing year as disruption to Black Sea exports was seen as only being partially offset by increased exports from India, the European Union, Argentina, and the United States. </p>