Well, that was an abrupt and unwelcome U-turn. A month ago India was boasting it would combat the gathering international food crisis by releasing some of its bounteous wheat stocks on world markets. Last Saturday Narendra Modi’s government downgraded its ambitions from feeding the world to just feeding India, announcing an export ban on wheat after sudden heatwaves pushed down forecast domestic production and drove up prices. With Ukrainian wheat production expected to fall by a third this year and Russia seizing Ukrainian grain and destroying its farms, the risk of the food crisis spiralling out of control just went up another notch.
嗯，那是一个突然且不受欢迎的180度大转弯。一个月前，印度吹嘘它将向世界市场释放一部分充足的小麦库存，帮助应对一场扑面而来的国际粮食危机。上周六，纳伦德拉•莫迪(Narendra Modi)政府将其雄心从喂饱世界降级为仅仅喂饱印度，宣布了小麦出口禁令，此前突如其来的热浪压低了印度的国内收成预测，并推高了价格。由于今年乌克兰小麦产量预计将下降三分之一，而俄罗斯正在抢夺乌克兰的粮食并破坏乌克兰的农场，粮食危机失控的风险又上升了一档。