With over 50 million tons, Russia's wheat harvest this year is the best in over 15 years.

But analysts have warned any further jump in agricultural output can only be achieved by increased investment and that will not happen any time soon.

Russia has vast uncultivated land, but with loans almost impossible to get, planned expansions will be put on hold and the land will likely remain fallow.

A rise in grain prices will also infect Russia's meat producers.

Switzerland's two largest banks will receive billions of francs of emergency funding from the government and other investors to shore them up against the financial crisis.

Shares in UBS AG and Credit Suisse Group AG fell sharply in early trade as investors reacted negatively to the latest example of the dramatic impact of the credit crunch on leading banks.

UBS will get a capital injection of 6 billion francs from the Swiss government in the form of mandatory convertible notes.

It will also unload up 60 billion US dollars of illiquid securities and other assets from its balance sheet to a separate fund entity under an agreement with the Swiss National Bank.

Credit Suisse will raise funds from investors including the Qatar Investment Authority, a major shareholder.