A benchmark Asian rice price climbed to the highest in almost two years, threatening to accelerate food inflation as the El Niño weather pattern disrupts production of the staple grain.

A benchmark Asian rice price climbed to the highest in almost two years, threatening to accelerate food inflation as the El Niño weather pattern disrupts production of the staple grain.

India’s coffee output is likely to fall short of an earlier forecast as below-normal rains during the four-month monsoon season took a toll on crops, according to the Coffee Board.

Indian farmers who helped force Prime Minister Narendra Modi into a rare policy retreat more than four years ago joined nationwide protests against a contentious overhaul of voter rolls on Friday, widening a movement against the country’s Election Commission.

India has ordered state-owned fuel retailers to stop procuring ethanol made from sugar and key sugarcane-based feedstocks in move that may help keep a lid on prices of the sweetener.

India, one of the world’s top urea importers, was able to secure less than 25% of the crop nutrient it sought in a tender last month, indicating that hostilities in the Middle East continue to keep farm input costs elevated.

India, a major fertilizer importer, received offers in a urea tender nearly 10% below its August purchase price, signaling some relief for global farmers that have faced surging input costs this year.

India’s monsoon-sown crops are likely to have been affected by rainfall deficits in some areas and excessive precipitation in others, Farm Secretary Atish Chandra said.

India, the top edible-oil buyer, halved import taxes on crude palm and soybean oils to ease local prices heading into the festive season.

Bangladesh has resumed wheat purchases from its western neighbor, after India’s plentiful supply encouraged it to lift an export ban at a time when Black Sea trade disruptions have sent global prices soaring.

India is on course for its driest monsoon in 17 years as a strengthening El Niño curbs rainfall, threatening crop yields and raising food-price risks.

The traditional thali is taking a bigger bite out of household budgets.

Cocoa futures headed for a weekly decline, as the market grapples with the prospect of sufficient short-term supplies being followed by a deficit in the season ahead.

Ghana’s cocoa output could tumble by more than a third as adverse weather and disease stresses trees, its state-run exporter said, adding to the strain on global supply of the chocolate ingredient.

The global cocoa market is poised to face a supply shortfall for the first time in three years as a strengthening El Niño threatens production across key growing regions, according to Asia’s top processor.

India’s weaker-than-normal monsoon is threatening key crops, heightening the risk that food prices will rise in the world’s most populous nation.

China is expected to ship at least 1.2 million tons of a key fertilizer variety to India, marking a ramp-up in sales from the world’s top producer after Beijing loosened export controls earlier this year.

Indian refiners will divert 350,000 tons of sugar originally headed offshore into the local market, people familiar with the matter said, after authorities cleared the move to ease a supply crunch.

India, one of the world’s biggest wheat producers, has scrapped a years-long ban on exports of the grain, a move that could ease global supplies that are under strain from escalating attacks between Russia and Ukraine.

India, the world’s second-biggest sugar producer, has allowed mills and refiners to import duty-free raw sugar in an effort to tame record local prices.