Rising pressure on sugar prices was intensified by supply disruptions in 2009, driving prices to double the long-term average. Higher production costs and growing ethanol use in Brazil set the stage for higher prices, but policy-induced production swings among Asian countries are the main source...

Concentration in several global agricultural input industries has risen significantly; by 2009, the largest four firms in the crop seed, agricultural chemical, animal health, animal genetics/breeding, and farm machinery sectors accounted for more than 50 percent of global market sales in each...