Soaring food prices, already a worldwide political hot potato, have taken centre-stage again in reaction to the deadly sweep of Cyclone Nargis through Burma. The storm killed tens of thousands of people and laid waste to five predominantly agricultural provinces. They produce 65% of the country's rice and represent about half of all irrigated areas in the country, according to the UN's Food & Agricultural Organisation. The FAO said Nargis might affect the 2007 secondary paddy crops, normally harvested from April to June. But it has been difficult to assess the total crop damage in the inhospitable terrain of the ravaged Irrawaddy Delta region, making projections of the impact on final 2007 paddy production mere guesswork.
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