Wheat and Maize export opportunity for India

Tags: Economics/Business

Demand for India wheat and maize (corn) has increased in the world after the Russian -Ukraine war .  Maize or Corn is the largest produced grain in the world and wheat is the second largest produced grain in the world .

•   The largest exporter of wheat in the world was  Russia and Ukraine was  the fifth largest exporter of wheat in the world after the US ,Canada and France in 2019.Together they contribute about 25% of world wheat exports. 

• Corn which is the largest produced grain in the world . It is also called the Queen of cereals because it has the highest genetic yield potential among the cereals.

• The biggest exporter of maize in the world was the United State followed by Argentina,Brazil,Ukraine and France  in 2019.

• The contribution of Ukraine was 13.4% of the total export in the world. The Odessa port of Ukraine has stopped its operation after the war and the supplies have come to a halt.  

• Western Europe, Turkey, Philippines are some of the largest buyers of Russian and Ukrainian wheats  

Opportunity to boost  Indian wheat export 

• India is likely to benefit from this situation . The Food Corporation of India has a buffer stock of about 26million tonnes of wheat  stock against the mandatory requirement of 4.4  million ton of  buffer stock and 3 million tonnes of strategic reserves . 

• Also wheat production  in India is expected to be around 111.32 million tonnes this year.

• India has enough stock to export.  In Asia India only has an exportable wheat stock  India is receiving enquiries from Asia,  North Africa, for import of wheat .India also enjoys logistics advantage as it is nearer to some of the prospective buyers like Thailand, Egypt Etc. The cost of shipment is less as compared to the United States of America .

Fact File  wheat 

Largest producer of wheat in the world in 2020

• China was the largest producer of wheat in the world followed by India, Russia.  United States of America  and Canada .

• The largest producer of Wheat in India is Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab(Source Economic Survey 2021-22)

• Egypt is the Largest importer of Wheat in the world .

 Export of wheat :The country has exported 20,88,487.66 MT of wheat to the world for the worth of $ 549.70 million during the year of 2020-21.

Major Export Destinations (2020-21) : Bangladesh, Nepal, United Arab Emirates  Sri Lanka, Yemen.

(Source :  Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority)

Fact File Maize

• The largest producer of maize in the world is the United States  followed by China, Brazil . India is the sixth largest producer of India .

• The largest producer of maize in India is Karnataka followed by Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra .

• In India, maize is the third most important food crops after rice and wheat

Exports : The total export of maize from India in 2020-21 was 28,79,202.93 million tonnes worth $ 634.85 million .

Destination of Indian Maize Export : Bangladesh, Vietnam, Nepal, Malaysia,Myanmar .

(Source :  Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority)