Punjab experiences the biggest sales of wheat due to the crisis.
Amidst the Russia-Ukrainian War, many countries suffer food shortages. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday informed that Egypt has approved India as the wheat supplier.
Talking on the issue, Commerce minister Piyush takes Twitter: "Indian farmers are feeding the world. Egypt approves India as a wheat supplier. Modi's government steps in as the world look for a reliable alternative for a steady food supply. Our farmers have ensured our granaries overflow and we are ready to serve the world".
Egypt's move to seek wheat supplies from India comes at a time when the Russia-Ukraine war has stretched to almost two months now and this has led to a rise in global wheat prices as shipments have been disrupted from both the warring nations, from which it imports the commodity.
The North African country is among the world's top wheat importing nations and seeks shipments from Russia, Ukraine, France, Germany and the United States.
Taking notes from the officials, a report by Reuters said, earlier this week Egypt's Supply Ministry had confirmed that it is considering this month adding wheat from India to 16 other national import origins accepted by its state grains buyer, as it seeks to shore up purchases disrupted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
A delegation from Egypt's Agriculture Ministry is in India "looking at phytosanitary measures and examining Indian grains in preparation for the accreditation of India as a wheat import origin," the Supply Ministry said in a statement to Reuters.
The war also resulted in the growth of wheat buyers from Punjab. Private players in the farm sector have bought one of the biggest amounts of wheat from Punjab this year, breaking a record, in what could be seen as an effect of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. These two nations, locked in a war that has dragged on for over a month, are the biggest wheat exporters in the international market. And this is where Punjab comes in given the current situation, say experts.
Punjab is far from any port, and so crop purchases by multinational food export firms are seen as logistically difficult. Yet, this hasn't stopped them from paying more than the minimum support price, or MSP, to Punjab's wheat farmers due to the war in Ukraine.
A total of 20.6 lakh tonnes of wheat arrived at Punjab mandis on April 13. The government agencies such as Pungrain, Punsup, Punjab State Warehousing Corporation, Markfed and the Food Corporation of India have bought 16.8 lakh tones.
Of this, private players have bought 99,637 tones. They offered ? 2,050 per quintal, higher than the MSP of ? 2,015.
The total wheat purchases have also broken a 15-year record, a Punjab government spokesperson said in a statement. "The total purchase of wheat touched 17 lakh tones on April 13, which was the highest purchase on this date in the last 15 years," the official said.
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