A combination of climate change and shifting trade practices has sent the price of rice soaring. This is problematic in many parts of the world, where the grain is the staple of regional diets.
Abdullah Al Mamun, senior research analyst at the International Food Policy Research Institute, spoke with NPR host Scott Simon for the Weekend Edition Saturday examining Indian export policies and what prompted the disruption in rice crops over the past year.
Al Mamun: “…after Russian invasion of Ukraine, the rice market – global rice market was relatively calm. But since September 2022, we see there is a price rise in rice, particularly in the Indian and Thai and Vietnam rice prices. So there are a couple of concerns that is triggering these impacts. Obviously, the El Nino, the weather event that is on the horizon right now in the Northern Hemisphere will likely impact the rice production, and this is one factor. The second is that as the fertilizer market is unstable at the moment right now due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, so there is – there was a concern of fertilizer availability during the planting season.”
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Republished in multiple National Public Radio outlets.