Now, you all know the problem.

It is not fault of President Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz that the world is facing these acute problems. Hopefully, you all finally accept your gullibility and realize how grandly you have been duped by the manufacturers of disinformation and Musharraf haters.

By: Alia McMullen, Financial Post

A new crisis is emerging, a global food catastrophe that will reach further and be more crippling than anything the world has ever seen. The credit crunch and the reverberations of soaring oil prices around the world will pale in comparison to what is about to transpire, Donald Coxe, global portfolio strategist at BMO Financial Group said at the Empire Club’s 14th annual investment outlook in Toronto on Thursday.

“It’s not a matter of if, but when,” he warned investors. “It’s going to hit this year hard.”

Mr. Coxe said the sharp rise in raw food prices in the past year will intensify in the next few years amid increased demand for meat and dairy products from the growing middle classes of countries such as China and India as well as heavy demand from the biofuels industry.

“The greatest challenge to the world is not US$125 oil; it’s getting enough food so that the new middle class can eat the way our middle class does, and that means we’ve got to expand food output dramatically,” he said.

The impact of tighter food supply is already evident in raw food prices, which have risen 22% in the past year.

Mr. Coxe said in an interview that this surge would begin to show in the prices of consumer foods in the next six months. Consumers already paid 6.5% more for food in the past year.

Wheat prices alone have risen 92% in the past year, and yesterday closed at US$9.45 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade.

At the centre of the imminent food catastrophe is corn - the main staple of the ethanol industry. The price of corn has risen about 44% over the past 15 months, closing at US$4.66 a bushel on the CBOT yesterday - its best finish since June 1996.

This not only impacts the price of food products made using grains, but also the price of meat, with feed prices for livestock also increasing.

“You’re going to have real problems in countries that are food short, because we’re already getting embargoes on food exports from countries, who were trying desperately to sell their stuff before, but now they’re embargoing exports,” he said, citing Russia and India as examples.

“Those who have food are going to have a big edge.”

With 54% of the world’s corn supply grown in America’s mid-west, the U.S. is one of those countries with an edge.

But Mr. Coxe warned U.S. corn exports were in danger of seizing up in about three years if the country continues to subsidize ethanol production. Biofuels are expected to eat up about a third of America’s grain harvest in 2007.

The amount of U.S. grain currently stored for following seasons was the lowest on record, relative to consumption, he said.

“You should be there for it fully-hedged by having access to those stocks that benefit from rising food prices.”

He said there are about two dozen stocks in the world that are going to redefine the world’s food supplies, and “those stocks will have a precious value as we move forward.”

Mr. Coxe said crop yields around the world need to increase to something close to what is achieved in the state of Illinois, which produces over 200 corn bushes an acre compared with an average 30 bushes an acre in the rest of the world.

“That will be done with more fertilizer, with genetically modified seeds, and with advanced machinery and technology,” he said.

Lot of issues are there for food shortages. Waste of our Food is also very high. We feels proud by wasting lot of food. Its fact. If you cooks calculated then your own relatives will start talking that your mom or sister or wife is miser. Lot of small small things leads to big problem. Best way to tackle these issues is to address big reason first and small reasons later on…

The writer, Mr Masood, has managed to convince himself that he has solutions for all the complex issues of this era - it is hard to believe how one can be so full oneself. It certainly would be wonderful if we all were so simple minded and could get some kicks out of our fantasies.

Pakistan is an agricultural country, in last decade or so policies of government had not supported the farmer in any way, from purchase of seed to market the crop and timely payments to farmer. He was poor and he is getting poor. Thay is why farmer has left growing those crops which dont earn right money in the right time.

Being an agricultural country claiming for food shortage is a lame excuse.

Second, cement is going to cover major portions of our lands replacing crops with constructions. better town planning is required.

Our last government tried to earn money by exporting those crops which only meet the local requirements so prices went on higher side may be out of the reach of common man.

Third, until habit of capturing of world resources is not stopped by USA this crises will more deepen by the paasage of time.

Summary of the three reports of the J. P Morgan, the Merrill Lynch, and the City Group on the performance of Pak economy have already appeared in the press in addition to a very positive report of the World Bank released in Washington on “Doing Business in South Asia - 2007, which gives high marks to Pakistan in improving its business environment.

March 2007: What happens ONE MONTH LATER to obstruct & destroy PAK’s bright economic future?

“Itne Jootey Parney chahyiey in logon ko ke shakal badal jaey, jinhon ne Pakistan ka kabara kar dia sirf sawa sal mein”

Aey Allah, in Pakistan ke dushmano ko is dunya mein mein bhi saza dey aur aakhirat mein bhi jo sirf apni ana aur khooshi ki khatir mulk ka satyanas kar rahen hein

Inshah Allah, ab logon ko jald pata chal jaega key kon acha tha aur kon bura.

Aameen!