The United Nations says prices for world food commodities like grains and vegetable oils reached their highest levels ever last month due to fallout from the war in Ukraine.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization said Friday its Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in international prices for a basket of commodities, recorded a double-digit percentage-point increase in March from the record level already set the previous month.

FAO said the index came in at 159.3 points last month, up 12.6 per cent from February’s all-time high since the index was created in 1990.

The Rome-based agency says the war in Ukraine was largely responsible for the 17.1 per cent rise in prices for cereals, including wheat and all coarse grains. Russia and Ukraine together account for around 30 per cent and 20 per cent respectively of global wheat and maize exports.

Press Trust of India