New Delhi: India, the world’s second biggest producer of wheat, won’t end a ban on exports of the cereal to avoid food shortages after drought and floods damaged crops of rice and sugar cane.
“There is a need to conserve grains within the country,” minister of state for food and agriculture K.V. Thomas told reporters in New Delhi on Tuesday.
“We want to restrict exports.”
India, which last imported wheat in 2007 and this year became a net buyer of sugar, wants to ensure adequate food supplies after the driest monsoon rains in more than three decades caused a drought in almost half the country. Recent floods in the southern states may further cut cane and rice output, said Thomas.