WASHINGTON, May 1: The chief economist of the US Agriculture Department told Congress on Thursday that prices for corn and other food commodities would remain at ‘historically high levels’ so long as the US ethanol industry continued to grow.

Congress’ Joint Economic Committee met to discuss the causes behind surging food prices that have set off riots abroad and grocery store sticker shock in America.

Joseph Glauber, chief economist for the Department of Agriculture, said that if biofuels like ethanol continued absorbing more US crops, prices for soybeans and other staples would rise, including the grains used to feed livestock.

Farmers and ethanol producers met in Washington on Tuesday to try and defend the benefits of their industry, just as some lawmakers begin to reconsider the country’s heavy promotion of ethanol as an alternative to gasoline.

The ethanol industry says ethanol and other biofuels account for just 4 per cent of the price surge, while the Department of Agriculture says the figure is closer to 20 per cent.—AP