Giving Compass' Take:
- Richi Verma reports on India announcing a ban on the export of non-basmati white rice in late July, addressing its ecological implications.
- How can the ecological toll of producing non-basmati white rice be mitigated? How does this environmental and agricultural issue intersect with climate change?
- Read about the impact of climate change on India's smallholder farmers.
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International rice buyers went into a frenzy after India announced a sudden ban on the export of non-basmati white rice late July, after a period of heavy rains devastated rice paddies.
The sudden ban sent ripples across the global food chain, spurring panic buying among the Indian diaspora in the United States, Canada, Dubai and Australia and prices to climb in its main export markets, Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. The ban has dented the credibility of India’s claim to be the natural leader of the Global South, since rising rice prices will hurt poor communities, particularly India’s neighbours, Bangladesh and Nepal, the hardest.
According to officials, the export ban was put in place to keep domestic retail prices – which have increased by 11.5 per cent over the last year – in check. Some believe the decision was made with one eye on elections next year.
“Apart from being politically motivated, the export ban has been imposed just in case India has a weak monsoon next month and El Niño plays spoilsport. These factors could hurt rice productivity,” said Anand Sharma, director of weather forecasting, disaster management and environmental awareness at the India Meteorological Department.
India is the world’s largest exporter of rice, selling over 22 million tonnes of the crop last year – some 40 per cent of the global supply.
India’s rice export ban has revived the conversation about the huge environmental health costs of cultivating the crop. Experts have long warned of the consequences of the intense focus on rice production over other crops such as pulses and millets.
“India’s huge rice industry is a consequence of the Green Revolution that transformed agricultural practices through technological and research innovation,” said Dr Nandula Raghuram, a professor of biotechnology and a specialist in rice research at the Centre for Sustainable Nitrogen and Nutrient Management at the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University in New Delhi.
Read the full article about India's rice export ban by Richi Verma at Eco-Business.