Damaged India wheat crop could drive food prices higher

India’s wheat output could decline for a second year in a row, keeping domestic prices elevated and requiring an extension of the country’s current export ban. A sudden rise in temperatures hit India’s wheat crop earlier this month, followed by heavy, unseasonable rains coupled with hail. This could negatively impact wheat quality at a time when the country, the No. 3 producer worldwide, grapples with wheat shortages and high food inflation. India’s wheat stocks-to-use ratio, a measure of available supplies, is currently at its lowest level in six years, as seen in this Gro display. Uttar Pradesh, the largest wheat producing state, has suffered from above normal temperatures starting in mid-February, as seen in this display from Gro’s Navigator for Agriculture weighted for the state’s wheat growing areas. In addition, heavy rains have inundated Uttar Pradesh, along with Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, other big wheat growing regions. The extent of losses might take weeks to ...