Global agricultural products will increase production and reduce prices in the next decade

Our reporter Chen Jian and Zhang Wei reported: the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development recently released the latest agricultural outlook report, saying that factors such as increased crop yields, increased productivity, and slowing global demand growth will contribute to the gradual decline in real prices of agricultural products in the next 10 years.

The report, entitled Agricultural Outlook 2015-2024, predicts that the growth rate of agricultural trade will slow compared with the previous decade, and its share of global production and consumption will remain basically stable. The report predicts that there will be major changes in the demand for food in developing countries. Because with the continuous expansion of population, per capita income and urbanization, the demand for food will also increase. The increase in income will lead to further diversification of consumers' diets, especially the consumption of animal protein relative to starchy foods.

According to the report, global fishery production is expected to increase by nearly 20 per cent by 2024; aquaculture is expected to exceed the total production of capture fisheries by 2023. Falling oil prices will push down food prices by driving down energy and fertilizer spending and discouraging the use of food crops to produce first-generation biofuels, the report said. The report believes that the growth rate of ethanol and biodiesel use is expected to slow in the next 10 years. Given the low oil prices, the share of biofuel trade in global production will continue to remain low.