“India’s production [of rice] has surged over the past decade, accounting for some 40% of global shipments before the latest limits, broadly equivalent to the next four exporters combined. Now curbs have tempered costs at home, but they’ve hurt vulnerable importing nations, pushing the global price to a 15-year high and raising the possibility of social unrest in regions like Africa, dependent on India for the key staple,” writes Bloomberg.
Such restrictions also squeeze farmers. Joseph Glauber, a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington, argues curbs create significant disincentives: “The price the producer is receiving is actually lower than an external or global price.” He points out that the impact of price-depressing rules and trade policy outweighs that of input subsidies.
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