PARIS, France (AFP) — Global food prices rose in September at their fastest rate since March 2022, with sugar prices surging as dry weather and fires damaged Brazilian sugarcane crops, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said Friday.

The FAO Food Price Index reached 124.4 points in September, a three per cent increase from August.

But it remained 22.4 per cent below the peak reached in March 2022 in the wake of Russia’s invasion of agricultural powerhouse Ukraine.

The index tracks monthly changes in international prices of a basket of food commodities.

Its sugar price index surged 10.4 per cent in September.

“Worsening crop prospects in Brazil, due to prolonged dry weather and fires that damaged sugarcane fields in late August, were the main drivers of the increase in global sugar prices,” the FAO said.

Prices were also affected by concerns over the availability of Indian sugar exports after the government lifted restrictions on using sugarcane for ethanol production, the agency said.

Vegetable oil prices rose 4.6 per cent while the cereal index increased by three per cent.