Unseasonal rains and hail damage wheat crops in India

Unseasonal rains and hailstorms have damaged ripening, winter-planted crops such as wheat in India’s fertile northern, central and western plains, exposing thousands of farmers to losses and raising the risk of further food price inflation. Torrential rains on Sunday and Monday lashed Punjab, Haryana parts of Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh state, which account for the bulk of wheat output in India, the world’s biggest producer after China, flattening crops and flooding farms. Lower crop yields will cut India’s wheat output for the second straight year, making it difficult for the state-run Food Corporation of India to shore up its depleting stocks. A sudden rise in temperatures hit the wheat crop earlier this month. Last year, a heatwave cut the country’s wheat production, forcing India to impose a ban to calm local prices, already driven higher by limited supplies from the Black Sea region because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The wheat crop looked promising until early ...