Last thursday, the head of the United Nations agriculture agency, together with scientists and delegations from Peru, Costa Rica and Norway witnessed a ceremony during which potato seeds were deposited in the Svalbart Arctic seed vault.

The FAO Food Price Index averaged 191.5 points in September 2014, down 5.2 points (2.6 percent) from August and as much as 12.2 points (6.0 percent) from the corresponding period last year.

The <strong>FAO Food Price Index</strong> averaged 196.6 points in August 2014, its lowest level since September 2010. In August, the index registered its fifth consecutive monthly decline, down 7.3 points (3.6 percent) from July and 7.9 points (3.9 percent) from August 2013.

The FAO Food Price Index averaged 203.9 points in July 2014, down 4.4 points from a revised value in June and 3.5 points below July 2013. While meat prices rose for the fifth consecutive month and sugar remained firm, sharp declines in grains, oilseeds and dairy quotations pushed down the FAO Food Price Index to its lowest level since January 2014.

in May 2014 The FAO Food Price Index averaged 207.8 points, down 2.5 points (or 1.2 percent) from April and nearly 7 points, or 3.2 percent, below May 2013.

The FAO Food Price Index - an indicator of global food prices - averaged 209.3 points in April 2014, down 3.5 points, or 1.6 percent, from March and 7.6 points, or 3.5 percent, below April 2013.

The FAO Food Price Index averaged 199.1 points in September 2013, 2.3 points (1 percent) below its August value and down 11 points (or 5.4 percent) since the beginning of the year.

The FAO Food Price Index averaged 212 points in March 2013, up 1 percent (1.7 points) from February, but 1.7 percent below March last year and nearly 11 percent below its peak in February 2011.

The FAO Food Price Index averaged 210 in January 2013, unchanged from the slightly revised December value. Following three months of consecutive declines, the Index stabilized in January, as a rebound in oils/fats prices offset a decline for cereals an...