India's ban on wheat exports will exacerbate global food security woes and shift focus onto the country’s critical rice exports, says ugalani
Workers remove dust from wheat at a wholesale grain market in Chandigarh, India April 17, 2017. REUTERS/Ajay Verma - RC1E6E7C8DF0MUMBAI, May 16 - India’s pledge to feed to the world still holds more than a grain of truth. After global wheat supplies were disrupted by the war in Ukraine, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India was ready to step up its trade. But a heatwaveis singeing fields and threatening to drive domestic production of wheat down to levels last seen in 2017.
An export ban on wheat announced on Saturday eases pressure on India’s average retail wheat flour prices that are at a 12-year high and protects consumers.That will come at the expense of farmers, whose incomes have already been squeezed hard in recent years, and who will now need to sell their crop for lower prices to the government.
It raises the political heat on food security worldwide. Before the ban, India had been the only major supplier in global markets, due to worsening water scarcity in Brazil, the United States and Europe. Economists at Citi calculate India might still have some spare wheat to send overseas. If so, its neighbours including Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, which is in the midst of an economic and political crisisThe wheat shortfall shifts the world’s food focus onto rice, a common substitute for wheat.
The All Rice Price Index, compiled by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, remained below levels a year earlier as of April, though it is creeping up. Thanks to controversial subsidies assuring farmers a minimum selling price, India is likely to have enough grains to feed itself; a healthy monsoon season will be critical to global supplies. For now, India’s food stocks still spare political leaders elsewhere from even worse problems.
México Últimas Noticias, México Titulares
Similar News:También puedes leer noticias similares a ésta que hemos recopilado de otras fuentes de noticias.
India bans exports of wheat, citing threat to food securityIndia has banned exports of wheat effective immediately, citing a risk to its food security, partly due to the war in Ukraine. A notice in the government gazette by the Directorate of Foreign Trade, dated Friday, said a spike in global prices for wheat was threatening the food security of India and neighboring and vulnerable countries. Global wheat prices have risen by more than 40% since the beginning of the year.
Leer más »
India bans wheat exports as heat wave hurts crop, domestic prices soarIndia banned wheat exports on Saturday — days after saying it was targeting record shipments this year — as a scorching heat wave curtailed output and domestic prices hit a record high.
Leer más »
India says ban on wheat exports is to check unregulated tradeIndian government officials, speaking just hours after the country banned wheat exports, said there was no dramatic fall in wheat output this year but unregulated exports had led to a rise in local prices.
Leer más »
India bans wheat exports as heatwave hurts crop, domestic prices soarIndia banned wheat exports on Saturday, just days after saying it was targeting record shipments this year, as a scorching heatwave curtailed output and domestic prices soared to an all-time high.
Leer más »
India, second-largest wheat producer, bans exports amid food supply concernsIndia has banned exports of wheat because of a risk to its food security partially due to Russia's attack on Ukraine.
Leer más »