Explained: Can India Meet The Global Wheat Demand Amidst Russia-Ukraine War

An ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has disrupted the global supply of wheat and India has come forward to fill the gap. Egypt agreed to import wheat from India to meet its domestic requirement.

India is the second-largest producer of wheat but still has no significant role in meeting global demand in terms of exports. However, the demand for Indian wheat has increased and the government is exploring the rising opportunity.

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said that India is likely to export 100-150 lakh tonnes of wheat this year whereas the overall wheat exports were 2 lakh in the previous two years.

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The rising demand for wheat from countries such as Bangladesh, UAE, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Oman and Malaysia are driving India¡¯s wheat export.

World¡¯s largest exporter and importer of wheat?

With more than 18% of international exports, Russia is the world¡¯s largest exporter of wheat. Russia and Ukraine export more than a quarter of the world's wheat. They together exported 25.4 % of the world¡¯s wheat in 2019.

The world's biggest importer of wheat is Egypt. The country imported wheat worth about USD 1.8 billion from Russia and USD 610.8 million from Ukraine in 2020. In 2019, Turkey imported 74% of its wheat requirement from Russia and Ukraine.

India and wheat production

With a share of around 13.5% of the world's total production, India is the 2nd largest producer of wheat. Annually, India produces over 107.59 MT of wheat but most of it is consumed domestically.

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The country's export is even less than 1 per cent of world wheat export. Although, a slight increase in the last few years is noteworthy i.e 0.14% in 2016 to 0.54% in 2020.

After rice, wheat is considered to be the 2nd most important cereal crop in India. Wheat, a rabi crop, is the main food crop in the north and north-western part of the country. The top wheat-producing states are Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Gujarat.

Aiming to export 10 million tonnes

The food, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said that Egypt agreed to import wheat from India. A task force is set up on wheat exports by the commerce ministry under the aegis of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Exports Development Authority (APEDA).

India targets a record 10 million tonnes of wheat export in the 2022-23 financial year amidst a surge in demand for wheat because of war.

M Angamuthu, Chairman, APEDA, said, ¡°We are aiming to export 3 million tonnes of wheat to Egypt this year. In 2021, Egypt imported 6.1 million tonnes (of wheat) with 80% coming from Russia and Ukraine, while India did not figure on the list of accredited countries.¡±

Export destinations of India

India exports wheat to its neighbouring countries primarily. In 2020-21, the top ten importing countries for Indian wheat are Malaysia, Qatar, Nepal, the United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Oman, Yemen and Bangladesh.

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Recently, the APEDA reportedly sent delegations to explore the possibility of boosting wheat exports in the Philippines, Indonesia, Morocco, Thailand, Vietnam, Turkey, Algeria, Tunisia and Lebanon.

A total of 220 labs are recognised by APEDA across India to provide testing services and ensure hassle-free quality certification of products to be exported.

Surplus wheat

To run welfare programmes, India requires over 25 million tonnes of wheat each year. The new season harvest (wheat) is underway and expected to be a bumper harvest at a record 111.32 million tonnes.

According to reports, the government bought over 43.34 million tonnes of wheat from domestic farmers last year. Further, with surplus wheat in hand, the government is seeking to step up exports with a 50% jump targeted during the current financial year.

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