In what appeared to be a sudden move, the government prohibited the export of wheat on May 13. This appeared to be totally out of sync with India’s policy of goodwill and outreach through liberal relief and support measures.
Given the food crisis in Sri Lanka and the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, the importance of wheat and food grains, in general, has already been a part of public discussions. Union agriculture ministry officials explained that the step was taken because of the rising wheat prices in the domestic market.
Closer scrutiny revealed that the government has fixed Rs 2,015 per quintal as the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for wheat for the current fiscal, more than Rs 40 per quintal up from the previous year. Government officials also revealed that the conditions for procurement of wheat are also being relaxed to ramp up stocks.
But India’s wheat export ban has become a global issue in less than a week. Now, it seems the next war could well be on wheat.
