food crisis. Will rice exports from India be banned?

Takes The war in the “granary of the world”This is in Ukraine. This has an increasing impact on the availability of, among other things, grain for the poorer regions of the world. Experts warn that millions of people are at risk of starvation.

They also look anxiously at India. It was this country that banned wheat exports last month due to the sudden increase in demand for grain. There are concerns about that He can do the same with rice.

It is worth emphasizing that India is by far the largest exporter of rice in the worldbeneficiaries from rich countries in the Middle East (such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) and countries in West Africa (Ghana, Benin, and Togo).

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“The value of rice exports from this country in May increased by more than 10 percent. compared to the previous year, which was largely due to concerns about the imposition of restrictions” – Al Jazeera reports.

– If India imposes strict restrictions on rice exports, It will be disastrousArab TV quoted Paul Duroch, an expert at the International Food Policy Research Institute, as warning of poorer countries that depend on imports.

For now, Vinod Kaul, CEO of the Indian Rice Exporters Association, is trying to calm the mood. He assures that the last harvest was good, that there are sufficient rice stocks and that the yield outlook for the current season is promising. The official numbers say about him Stores Rice in India 33 million tons. This time of year they haven’t been this big since at least 2016.

But the island indicates that food supply In India it looks less robust given the sharp decline in wheat production this year. Combined rice and wheat stocks in early June were the lowest since 2017.

The Public Distribution System in India provides subsidized food to 800 million people. Some states have already started offering more rice to make Covering wheat shortage – confirms Deepa Sinha, an economist at Ambedkar University in New Delhi. – This will definitely affect the amount of rice available for export – He adds.

Al Jazeera quoted Paul Doroch as concerned that any restrictions on exports will not end with India. A single decision can lead to a chain reactionAs a result, others will do something similar to protect their home markets.

It is worth mentioning that Indonesia temporarily banned palm oil exports earlier this yearafter, after The war in Ukraine Ban the supply of sunflower oil.