After India, Russia, too, has imposed a ban on grain export in order to stabilise the domestic market. President Vladimir Putin recently announced that Moscow would not export rice abroad for a few months, as his government decided to give priority to the domestic market. He confirmed that Russia banned export of processed rice, as well as converted rice. (Converted rice or easy-cook rice has been partially boiled in the husk, as the three basic steps of parboiling are soaking, steaming and drying.)

As Russia exports a huge amount of rice to various countries every year, a number of countries across the globe depend on Moscow for rice. These countries fear a food crisis because of President Putin’s announcement. The Russian President also announced that his country would resume export only after December 31, 2023, saying that he had to make this decision in order to resolve the internal food crisis. According to the President, rice production has declined in Russia due to low yields. Hence, the domestic demand for rice has increased a lot. It may be noted that the daily diet of a large number of Russians is rice and other rice-based foods.

Meanwhile, President Putin informed the press that Russia would continue exporting rice to member-countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). The EEU is an economic union of several post-Soviet States located in Eurasia. The Treaty on the EEU was signed on May 29, 2014 by the leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia, and came into force on January 1, 2015. Treaties aiming for the accession of Armenia and Kyrgyzstan to the EEU were signed on October 9 and December 23, 2014, respectively. The Kremlin shall also continue to export rice to Ossetia and Abkhazia, bordering the Caucasus Mountains. At the same time, President Putin announced that his government would allow other countries to export rice through Russian territory on humanitarian grounds.

Earlier in 2023, India decided to temporarily suspend the export of rice to foreign countries. The Narendra Modi Government in New Delhi announced that India would stop exporting all kinds of rice, except the Basmati rice (a long grain aromatic rice), in an attempt to boost the domestic supply. The Government of India issued a statement, saying that it wanted to stabilise the domestic supply ahead of the festive season. The government further stated that its top priority was to put the price of rice under control in the domestic market.

As India is gearing up for the 2024 Parliamentary Elections, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has directed all the concerned departments to check the price hike of rice and other food items. The price of wheat increased in India in 2022. As the Indians consume rice more than wheat, the government has started taking precautionary measures. However, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) strongly criticised India’s decision. The Fund also requested New Delhi to reconsider its decision, stressing that the supply of rice in the global market might decrease and the price might increase due to this.

Rice is an essential food item for more than 3,000 million people globally, and Asia meets nearly 90% of this huge demand. As the supply of rice from two important sources has been stopped, the global community will certainly face the heat. The Indian diaspora in various countries, including the UK and the US, are facing problems due to the stoppage of India’s rice export. The price of stored rice has suddenly increased, and there has been a rush to purchase that rice.

Experts are of the opinion that India and Russia’s decision would make the scenario worse. As the supply cannot meet the existing demand for rice, the world would have to face a severe food crisis.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das