Prices of rice exported from top hub India jumped to their highest since early March this week, driven by tight supplies and a move to raise the government-mandated price for paddy, while rates for the staple from Thailand eased on lower demand.
Monsoon rain reached the coast of India's southernmost Kerala state on Thursday, offering relief to farmers after a delay of more than a week, marking its latest arrival in seven years.
Early signs of hot, dry weather caused by El Nino are threatening food producers across Asia, while American growers are counting on heavier summer rains from the weather phenomenon to alleviate the impact of severe drought.
Italy's Emilia Romagna region will recover from the devastating floods that hit this week by taking from lessons learned from the 2012 earthquake, its governor said Friday, as the death toll from the disaster rose to 14.
The Spanish government plans to spend 2.19 billion euros ($2.4 billion) on new water supplies, subsidies and direct aid to farmers to alleviate a prolonged and worsening drought they say has decimated production of rice, cereal and olives.