FACTBOX: UN proposes steps to boost crop yields, food supply

(Reuters) - The United Nations is looking to boost emergency food aid, increase crop yields, make commodity markets work better and re-think biofuels as it seeks to ease a food crisis gripping the world's poorest nations.

Following are the main points in a draft plan of action put together by a hunger task force set up by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, circulated during a food summit in Rome on Tuesday. The task force aims to produce a final version by end-June:

EMERGENCY AID

International emergency assistance to confront hunger and malnutrition should be improved by:

-- Increasing assistance through food aid, vouchers and cash transfers, depending on the needs of different countries

-- Targeting nutritional support to high-risk groups, such as children, mothers, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS patients

-- Encouraging local purchases of food for international aid

CROP YIELDS

Investment shortfalls, inappropriate policies, insecure land tenure, lack of knowledge and poorly-developed commercial infrastructure have made farm productivity in many countries "far below those which are possible". To address this, the task force's draft recommended:

-- Improving pest and disease control and standards for storage and processing, and improving veterinary medicines and treatments

-- Investing in agricultural research on farming and fisheries, including tropical roots and tubers, grains such as millet and sorghum, and efforts to improve soil fertility

-- Upgrading rural roads, irrigation and electricity systems

-- Assessing the potential of genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) in improving yields and resistance to crop losses due to pests, drought and salinity. Developing frameworks to screen the biosafety and appropriateness of GMOs.

COMMODITY MARKETS

The food crisis has highlighted a number of weaknesses in how international food markets work, with "drastic consequences" for poor people. Report recommends steps to improve fairness and openness of the trading system such as:

-- Completing the World Trade Organization's (WTO) latest global free trade accord, the Doha round

-- Strengthening monitoring of food markets and production

-- Develop weather-indexed bonds, reinsurance markets and other tools to limit volatility caused by commodity speculators

BIOFUELS

Urgent need to develop international policy guidelines on biofuels to take into account food security, income and energy needs in all countries. Its recommended actions include:

-- Assessing the impact of biofuel production on food prices at national and global levels

-- Promoting research and development to promote non-food biofuel crops, such as those focused on cellulose from stalks

-- Reviewing biofuel subsidies and tariffs to reduce pressures on grain demand and food prices

(Reporting by Laura MacInnis)