Turkey, stricken by falling currency and ever-increasing inflation, has returned the consignment of wheat sent from India. Turkey has said that the Rubella virus has been found in India’s wheat, due to which it cannot take India’s wheat. According to media reports, Turkey has sent more than 56 thousand tonnes of grain to India.
What did the Turkish government say about wheat?
Turkey has cited the phytosanitary problem in Indian wheat. S&P Global has published a report on this matter. It has been told that 56 thousand 877 tonnes of grain were lying on a ship for a few days at Turkey’s Iskenderun Port. Now this ship has been returned from Turkey to Kandhla port in Gujarat. According to the report, Turkish officials have told the problem of phytosanitary (disease related to plants) in this wheat. The ship left Turkey with grain for India on 29 May.
An Istanbul-based trader told S&P Global,
“The Turkish Ministry of Agriculture has detected rubella disease in the Indian wheat consignment, due to which it has been rejected. The wheat-laden ‘MV Ins Ekadeniz’ ship has left Turkey’s Iskenderun Port for India. It will reach India by the middle of June”.
However, neither the Turkish government nor the Indian government has given any official statement on this matter so far.
Is India’s concern going to increase?
According to the report of S&P Global, India’s concern may increase after Turkey’s return of wheat consignment. Because after this, other countries can distance themselves from the wheat of India. Egypt has recently taken 60 thousand tonnes of grain from India. It is said that this consignment will reach Egypt in the next few days.
However, Egypt’s chances of questioning Indian wheat are slim, as it has approved India as a wheat supplier only after a thorough quality check. About two months ago, an Egyptian delegation came to India. This delegation had visited Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Maharashtra and examined wheat samples.
How did the Russia-Ukraine war lead to the wheat crisis?
Turkey has decided to return Indian wheat when the whole world is facing a crisis of wheat shortage due to the war between Russia and Ukraine. India is the second-largest wheat producer globally, but it exports less wheat. Russia is the world’s largest wheat exporter. Ukraine is at number six in this matter.
One-fourth of the world’s grain is supplied from these two countries in the global wheat market. In such a situation, when the war broke out between these two, many countries were facing a shortage of wheat.
Amid this crisis, most the countries became dependent on India. When the export of wheat from India increased, the situation started deteriorating. Amidst the fear of shortage, there was a big jump in wheat prices. The Government of India took a big decision on 13 May to avoid the need for wheat, control its costs, and ban grain export.
