NEW DELHI
\nIndia on Saturday banned wheat exports without government approval after its hottest March on record hit production, in a blow to countries reeling from supply shortages and soaring prices since Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.
\nThe announcement drew sharp criticism from the Group of Seven industrialised nat\u00adi\u00adons\u2019 agriculture ministers meeting in Ger\u00adm\u00adany, who said that such measures \u201cwould worsen the crisis\u201d of rising commodity prices.
\n\u201cIf everyone starts to impose export restrictions or to close markets, that would worsen the crisis,\u201d German Agriculture Minister Cem Ozdemir said at a press conference in Stuttgart.
\nGlobal wheat prices have soared on supply fears following Russia\u2019s February invasion of Ukraine, which previously accounted for 12 per cent of global exports.
\nThe spike in prices, exacerbated by fertiliser shortages and poor harvests, has fuelled inflation globally and raised fears of famine and social unrest in poorer countries.
\nIt has also led to concerns about growing protectionism following Indonesia\u2019s halting of palm oil exports and India putting the brakes on exports of wheat.
\nIndia, the world\u2019s second-largest wheat producer, said that factors, including lower production and sharply higher global prices, meant it worried about the food security of its own 1.4 billion people.
\nExport deals agreed before the directive issued on Friday could still be honoured, but future shipments need government approval, it said.
\nBut exports could also take place if New Delhi approved requests from other governments \u201cto meet their food security needs\u201d.
\n\u201cWe don\u2019t want wheat to go in an unregulated manner where it may either get hoarded and is not used for the purpose which we are hoping it will be used for \u2014 which is serving the food requirements of vulnerable nations and vulnerable people,\u201d said BVR Subrahmanyam, India\u2019s commerce secretary.
\nOn Thursday New Delhi said it was sending delegations to Morocco, Tunisia, Thailand, Vietnam, Turkey, Algeria and Lebanon \u201cfor exploring possibilities of boosting wheat exports from India\u201d.
\nIt was unclear whether these visits would still take place.
\nGlobal help
\nPossessing major buffer stocks, India previously said it was ready to help fill some of the supply shortages caused by the Ukraine war.
\n\u201cOur farmers have ensured that not just India but the whole world is taken care of,\u201d Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said in April.
\nIndia said that it planned to increase wheat exports this financial year, starting April 1, to 10 million tonnes from seven million tonnes the year before.
\nWhile this is a tiny proportion of worldwide production, the assurances provided some support to global prices and soothed fears of major shortages.
\nEgypt and Turkey recently approved wheat imports from India.
\nBut India endured its hottest March on record \u2014 blamed on climate change \u2014 and has been wilting in a heatwave in recent weeks, with temperatures upwards of 45 degrees Celsius.
\nThis has hit farmers hard, and this month the government said that wheat production was expected to fall at least five per cent this year from 110 million tonnes in 2021 \u2014 the first fall in six years.
\nIndian wheat exports in the past have been limited by concerns over quality and because the government buys large volumes at guaranteed minimum prices.
\nThe country\u2019s exports have also been held back by World Trade Organization rules that limit shipments from government stocks if the grain was bought from farmers at fixed prices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW DELHI India on Saturday banned wheat exports without government approval after its hottest March on record hit production, in a blow to countries reeling from supply shortages and soaring prices since Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. The announcement drew sharp criticism from the Group of Seven industrialised nat\u00adi\u00adons\u2019 agriculture ministers meeting in Ger\u00adm\u00adany, who said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-260702","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n