India has banned the export of wheat. A heat wave has limited production and domestic prices have risen sharply. This threatens food security in India, authorities say. The decision could further push up the price of wheat on the world market.
The Indian ban is notable because the country previously said it was counting on record wheat exports.
The world market could have used the Indian grain well this year. Export from Ukraine is hardly possible because of the war in that country. The United States and France are also struggling with weather conditions that make it difficult to grow the important cereal.
Worries about wheat are pushing up prices for bread, among other things. In the Netherlands, bread and grains were almost 6 percent more expensive last month than a year earlier, according to figures from Statistics Netherlands. But poorer countries and people in Africa and Asia are particularly hard hit by higher food prices.
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