FAO worried about grain rally, sees no food crisis

"We are concerned for two reasons: first the pace at which price rises are taking place and second because at least for the time being there seem to be no relief in prices, in particular for corn, soybeans and wheat," FAO's Abdolreza Abbassian told Reuters in a telephone interview.

But the current situation on the world markets is not a repeat of the 2007/08 food crisis when high prices sparked riots in many poor countries. This is because supplies of rice, a key staple in many developing countries, is abundant and the wheat situation is better, Abbassian said.

"We do not see any production or supply problems with rice. That is very important for food security of millions of people around the world," he said.

The FAO expected world coarse grain supplies to tighten in the current season due to corn problems in the drought-stricken United States.

(Reporting by Svetlana Kovalyova; Editing by Alison Birrane)