Chinese officials are encouraging the country’s farmers to grow more vegetables to ease rising food prices, the Wall Street Journal reported. Han Changfu, the country’s agriculture minister, said the government hopes to boost vegetable production by 7.5% following almost three years of near-zero growth. The push has apparently sharply accelerated in the past two weeks, after news that higher food prices drove inflation to 4.4% year-on-year in October. Prices for ginger and garlic have nearly doubled over the past year while corn prices have climbed 30-60%. Regulators blamed commodities speculators for the spike in prices, and have also suggested that price controls on certain food many be necessary. Food prices have dipped recently, however, which has allowed the government to claim some credit.
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