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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nRuined rice crops in India’s Haryana state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The move has triggered fears of global food inflation, hurt the livelihoods of some farmers and prompted several rice-dependent countries to seek urgent exemptions from the ban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than three billion people worldwide rely on rice as a staple food and India contributed to about 40% of global rice exports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Economists say the ban is just the latest move to disrupt global food supplies, which has suffered from Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine as well as weather events such as El Ni\u00f1o.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They warn the Indian government\u2019s decision could have significant market reverberations with the poor in Global South nations in particular bearing the brunt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And farmers like Kumar say market price rises caused by poor harvests doesn\u2019t result in a windfall for them either.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe ban is going to have an adverse effect on all of us. We won\u2019t get a higher rate if rice isn\u2019t exported,\u201d Kumar said. \u201cThe floods were a death blow to us farmers. This ban will finish us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Satish Kumar with whatever is left of his rice crops.Vijay Bedi\/CNN<\/p>\n\n\n\n The abrupt announcement of the export ban triggered panic buying in the United States, following which <\/strong>the price of rice soared to a near 12-year high, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It does not apply to basmati rice, which is India\u2019s best-known and highest quality variety. Non-basmati white rice however, accounts for about 25% of exports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n India wasn\u2019t the first country to ban food exports to ensure enough supply for domestic consumption. But its move, coming just one week after Russia pulled out of the Black Sea grain deal \u2014 a crucial pact that allowed the export of grain from Ukraine \u2014 contributed to global concerns about the availability of grain staples and whether millions would go hungry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe main thing here is that it is not just one thing,\u201d Arif Husain, chief economist at the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) told CNN. \u201c[Rice, wheat and corn crops] make up bulk of the food which poor people around the world consume.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Workers in India sift through rice grains in capital New Delhi.Vijay Bedi\/CNN<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nepal has seen rice prices surge since India announced the ban,\u00a0according to local media reports, and rice prices in Vietnam are the highest they have been in more than a decade, according to customs data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thailand, the world\u2019s second largest rice exporter after India, has also seen domestic rice prices jump significantly in recent weeks, according to data from the Thai Rice Exporters Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Countries including Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines, have appealed to New Delhi to resume rice exports to their nations,\u00a0according to local Indian media reports.\u00a0CNN has reached out to India\u2019s Ministry of Agriculture but has not received a response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has encouraged India to remove the restrictions, with the organization\u2019s chief economist, Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, telling reporters last month that it was \u201clikely to exacerbate\u201d the uncertainty of food inflation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe would encourage the removal of these types of export restrictions because they can be harmful globally,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, there are fears that the ban has the world market bracing for similar actions by rival suppliers, economists warn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe export ban is happening at a time when countries are struggling with high debt, food inflation, and declining depreciating currencies,\u201d Husain from the WFP said. \u201cIt\u2019s troubling for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Indian farmers account for nearly half of the country\u2019s workforce, according to government data, with rice paddy mainly cultivated in central, southern, and some northern states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Summer crop planting typically starts in June, when monsoon rains are expected to begin, as irrigation is crucial to grow a healthy yield. The summer season accounts for more than 80% of India\u2019s total rice output, according to Reuters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This year, however, the late monsoon arrival led to a large water deficit up until mid-June. And when the rains finally arrived, it drenched swathes of the country, unleashing floods that caused significant damage to crops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The heavy floods have affected the country’s farmers.Vijay Bedi\/CNN<\/p>\n\n\n\n Surjit Singh, 53, a third generation farmer from Harayana said they \u201clost everything\u201d after the rains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy rice crops have been ruined,\u201d he said. \u201cThe water submerged about 8-10 inches of my crops. What I planted (in early June) is gone\u2026 I will see a loss of about 30%.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The World Meteorological Organization last month warned that governments must prepare for more extreme weather events and record temperatures, as it declared the onset of the warming phenomenon El Ni\u00f1o.<\/p>\n\n\n\n El Ni\u00f1o is a natural climate pattern in the tropical Pacific Ocean that brings warmer-than-average sea-surface temperatures and has a major influence on weather across the globe, affecting billions of people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Satish](\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/230825040613-01-india-rice-shortage.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_720,w_1280,c_fill\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\u2018Troubling for everyone\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Workers](\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/230825040615-04-india-rice-shortage.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_720,w_1280,c_fill\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nFarmers hit hard<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/230825040614-03-india-rice-shortage.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_720,w_1280,c_fill\")
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![\"India's](\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/230825040616-05-india-rice-shortage.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_720,w_1280,c_fill\")
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