On Oct. 8, when the Agriculture Department cut its forecast for the US corn crop, shares of Tyson, the chicken producer, dropped 6%.

FORBES: Fight Food Inflation, Feast On Famine

In 1982-83, the desert city of Piura was flooded for four months, the cotton crop of the nearby valleys was washed away, and mudslides cut roads and railways in the Andes, hindering the transport of output from mines.

ECONOMIST: The unkind child

Drought has cut Australia's 2007 crop, and some of the surplus may be soaked up.

FORBES: Magazine Article

The USDA cut its estimate of Argentina's corn crop by 6% to 23.5 million metric tons.

WSJ: Grain Prices Soar as U.S. Slashes Outlook

Next-generation GM crops could boost food grown, cut pesticide use, make crops more resistant to droughts like the one that crushed the US corn crop last year, even create crops that fertilize themselves from the air.

FORBES: Saving the World With the Power of Ideas: A Conversation With Ramez Naam

It provides loans to small farmers, trains them in agronomy and sells them seeds and fertiliser, as well as the saplings they must plant if they cut other trees down for fuel to flue-cure their crop.

ECONOMIST: Africa 40 years on