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‘Europe heatwave likely to worsen global food crisis’
Cereal production in southern Europe is expected to fall by up to 60% over last year in the wake of the Charon heatwave currently gripping the continent
New Delhi: A European summer with record-breaking temperatures has roiled cereal crops in the continent, which is likely to worsen a global food crisis, according to several recent reports. India’s ban on rice export has already caused a rally in prices.
The World Meteorological Organisation has forecast that the current heatwave in the continent will linger and southern European locations this past week experienced record temperatures, such as Malaga in Spain, which hit 44.2°C on July 19.
Cereal production in southern Europe is expected to fall by up to 60% over last year in the wake of the Charon heatwave currently gripping the continent, the Grocer website said in a report this week, quoting European farming organisation Copa Cogeca. Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis warned this week that “the hard times are clearly not over yet”, in remarks quoted by Sky News.
On Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it had urged India to lift its restriction on rice exports. Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, IMF’s chief economist, said the restrictions were likely to exacerbate volatility in food prices in the rest of the world.
India, the world’s top overseas seller of rice, on July 20 banned export of non-basmati white rice to cool cereal inflation following fears of further price pressures due to flooding and torrential rains in nearly two-thirds of the country.
Also, global wheat prices jumped after Russia withdrew from the Black Sea grain deal on July 17, under which it allowed Ukraine, a major breadbasket, to ship food and fertilisers.
Chicago wheat futures, a benchmark, went up about 17% since Russia left the deal, according to a note by Rabobank head of the agri commodities markets Carlos Mera.
