"FAO studies clearly show that recent high commodity prices have not originated from emerging economies," he said at the Food and Agriculture Organisation's World Food Security Summit here last evening.
Pawar, who was accompanied by Agriculture Secretary P K Mishra and newly appointed Ambassador to Italy Arif Khan to the Summit, said that FAO studies also suggested that additional demand for maize for making ethanol and rape seed for making bio diesel had had the strongest impact on prices.
US President George Bush had said in May that prosperity in countries like India triggers increased demand for better nutrition, which in turn leads to higher food prices.
"If we decided to convert all of the world's grain into motor fuel, we will still need to use lots of oil and we would not be having anything to eat," Pawar said, calling for a re-look at the use of bio-fuel as an alternative fuel.
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The minister, who shared India's success story of feeding 17 per cent of the world's population on less than five per cent of the world's water and three per cent of the arable land, said, "Our experience... Gives me the confidence that the challenge (of rising prices) may be met by the world community by increasing focus on agriculture growth."
Yesterday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for increasing world food production by almost 50 per cent by 2030.