India’s harvest hit a record, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to “feed the world” by shipping wheat to wheat-dependent countries Ukraine and Russia.
The solution must come from India and its cereal stockpile which is expected to stem the food crisis linked to the war in Ukraine. But that’s not counting global warming: March’s historic heatwave pierced Indian ears and should have caused crops to fall by more than 4% compared to last year, according to estimates. The deficit comes as annual food inflation here has risen to 8.3% in April.
According to RFIthe Indian government therefore keeps this grain for domestic consumption – the Indian government prohibits further private exports, but reserves the right to sell it to countries where it is most in need.
Egypt and Turkey, until now Ukrainian customers, have placed outstanding orders with India. Other African and Middle Eastern countries are also interested.
The G7 criticized India’s decision to ban wheat exports. The G7 foreign ministers (Germany, France, Italy, Canada, the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom), joined by their counterparts from Ukraine and Moldova, met through Saturday in Germany. This is the first reaction to this decision with serious consequences.
First review
“If everyone starts imposing such export restrictions or even shuts down markets, it will only exacerbate the crisis and will also hurt India and its farmers.”said German Agriculture Minister Cem zdemir. “We call on India to assume its responsibilities as a member of the G20”he added.
