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TEHRAN: World food prices climbed in March to their highest level since September last year and could rise further if the West Asia conflict that pushed up energy prices continues, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on Friday.

“Price rises since the conflict began have been modest, driven mainly by higher oil prices and cushioned by ample global cereal supplies,” FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero said in a statement, according to Mehr news agency (MNA).

But if the conflict lasts over 40 days and input costs remain high, farmers may reduce inputs, plant less, or switch crops to less intensive fertiliser crops, he said.

“Those choices will hit future yields and shape our food supply and commodity prices for the rest of this year and all of the next,” he added.

The FAO Food Price Index, which measures changes in a basket of globally traded food commodities, rose by 2.4 per cent from its revised February level. It is 1 per cent above its value a year ago, although nearly 20 per cent below its March 2022 peak, reached after the start of the war in Ukraine.