India’s Big Wheat Opportunity: How Delhi Can Make Up for Export Shortfall from Russia, Ukraine

Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine has a silver lining for India — an opportunity to boost its wheat exports, writes Nikhil Rampal at ThePrint.

The war between the two wheat-surplus nations has raged on for a month now, with no end in sight. Consequently, this supply shock has made the global wheat prices climb — all working in India’s favor.

Advertisement

Averaging 100 million tonnes (MT) in the last five years, India is the world’s second-largest producer of wheat after China (133 MT), but a high consumption base has seldom allowed the country to be a big exporter.

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), clubbed together, Russia and Ukraine produce more or less the same amount of wheat India does, 104 MT. However, these countries are collectively home to seven times fewer people (18-19 crore) than India (134 crore), which allows them to export huge quantities of wheat.

Hence, countries with inadequate wheat production, especially west Asia and north Africa, rely on Russia and Ukraine.

Top Articles
ADAMA Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Results

Read more at ThePrint.

Hide picture