Farm ministers from the world's top economies agreed on action today to tame market speculation blamed for the food price spikes that have hit consumers' pockets and sparked unrest. "The consensus. marks an historic union of resolve in combating the pressing challenges of hunger and food price volatility confronting our world," US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement. The agreement reached by agriculture ministers from the Group of 20 leading economies meeting in Paris also supported establishing an international agricultural market information system,or AMIS,said the US minister. Vilsack said that "if fully supported and utilised" the information system would mitigate volatility on agricultural commodity markets by improving production and price information. The farm ministers went into the Paris meeting divided on how far measures to control trading in food commodities should go and on how much information should be given to the new data service,AMIS,on production levels and stocks. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said yesterday that the challenge was not only to combat hunger,but to cure capitalism. "By addressing the volatility of agricultural markets,in assuring food security for the world for today and tomorrow,we will rebalance the structure of capitalism," he told the ministers on the eve of their first-ever talks. The G20 nations pledged to contain agricultural commodity volatility in the wake of the 2007-2008 surge in food prices,widely blamed on speculation,that triggered riots in some countries. Fresh price spikes at the beginning of this year,seen as helping fuel the Arab Spring revolts,have kept the issue on the front-burner.
