US: FAO calls for ethanol suspension in light of drought
Published: 08/10/2012, 10:49:30 AM
The United Nations has called for an immediate suspension of the government mandated U.S. ethanol production at a time when food prices have surged due to drought conditions in the U.S., adding pressure on U.S. president Barak Obama to address the food-versus-fuel debate in the run-up to the presidential elections, The Financial Times reported Friday, according to Dow Jones.
The U.S. is set to divert about 40% of its corn into ethanol due to the Congress-enacted mandate, despite significant damage to the crop because of the worst drought in at least 50 years, said Jose Graziano da Silva, Director General of the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization.
"An immediate, temporary suspension of that mandate would give some respite to the market and allow more of the crop to be channeled towards food and feed uses," he wrote in an opinion piece for the newspaper.