The rise in the prices of wheat and other grains has led analysts to caution that the world could face a crisis within the next ­12 months if there is another ­disappointing year of global ­production.

“We are not near a crisis yet, but if we have another bad year of harvests because of droughts and poor weather then we could be looking at a very serious problem,” said Abdolreza Abbassian, commodity analyst at the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations in Rome.