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© UnknownArgentina is one of the world's top suppliers of wheat, corn, beef and soybeans exports

Argentina Friday convened its National Farm Emergency Commission to discuss coping with the drought that has devastated production across the country, a major world food exporter.

The drought, which has prompted several provinces to declare a state of emergency, has cost the country four billion dollars and has burdened the state with some 1.88 billion dollars in lost tax revenue, according to some private estimates.

Argentina -- one of the world's top suppliers of wheat, corn, beef and soybeans exports -- exports around 35 billion dollars of food produce a year; farm exports amount to more than 50 percent of foreign sales in the South American country.

Top markets for Argentine produce include other South American nations, the European Union and Asian nations.