A surge in soyaoil prices in China has sounded the alarm over a possible grains shortage, prompting Beijing to double agriculture subsidies to curb the number of farmers flocking to cities for jobs.
China's central planners hope that giving more money to farmers will help to put a lid on rising soya imports and stave off the need to buy foreign wheat or corn for its 1.3 billion people, helping keep global prices from soaring further.
Robust economic growth has resulted in labour shortages in some Chinese cities, luring farmers with the hope of better prospects, after many grappled with a recent outbreak of blue-ear disease among pigs that devastated the pork industry. And low global grains stocks and record high prices have further undermined the country's food security, while a lack of farmers has meant a slow recovery in the country's pork supplies.
With the economy expanding at more than 11 percent a year, people are consuming more oil, meat and dairy products per capita, fuelling demand for grains and more than offsetting a pick-up in China's grains output to over 500 million tonnes.
Chinese cooking oil prices have climbed more than 50 percent since March, hitting fresh highs almost every day since October. This follows a rally in pork prices. Corn prices are also on the rise, despite a bumper harvest.
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