India to help meet global demand for wheat harvest and higher reserves | Economy

A government official has said that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has affected supplies from the Black Sea, and that India’s large harvests and overcrowded grocery stores will help meet the wheat import needs of the world’s largest buyers.

India, the world’s second largest wheat producer, is ready to meet additional demand from buyers in South Asia and Southeast Asia and Europe, West Asia and North Africa. Ukraine is a major grain producer, but its exports have stalled since the Russian invasion.

Sudhanshu Pandey, a senior official in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, said, “India has sufficient stock in the market and is in a position to meet the needs of wheat importing countries.

India’s new wheat harvest season is underway, and this year’s production has reached 111.32 million tonnes, the country’s sixth consecutive season of surplus production.

India needs at least 25 million tonnes of wheat every year to run a food security program.

Last year, the government procured 43.34 million tonnes of wheat from domestic farmers.

Private operators have set a price of Rs. Offering more than 20,150 (US $ 265.35), government procurement is likely to decline this year, resulting in a higher surplus for exports.

“We have to meet our own needs for PDS and the rest is available for export,” Pandey said, adding that the public distribution system or the welfare food scheme, which subsidizes the poor, provides about 25 million tonnes of wheat.

Pandey said the Indian government is pleased to see farmers getting attractive prices from private operators who actively buy from farmers to meet the growing global demand if the poor have enough wheat.

Wheat reserves in government warehouses stood at 19 million tonnes on April 1, a significant increase from the target of 7.46 million tonnes.

India’s wheat exports reached 7.85 million tonnes year-on-year in March, an unprecedented increase from 2.1 million tonnes in the previous year.