NEW DELHI, April 14 (Reuters) - India, the world's second-biggest wheat producer and consumer after China, expects a record harvest in 2011, raising hopes of exports for the first time in eight years.
But India's federal government is expected to tread cautiously and, in the best-case scenario, allow exports of no more than 2 to 3 million tonnes -- just a fraction of the country's estimated 2011 production of around 84 million -- worried by surging domestic food prices and exploding demand. [ID:L3E7FC1IX]
Here are some key facts about India's wheat crop:
- The country grows only one wheat crop in a year. It is sown from October and the harvest begins in March. Wheat is grown on about 28 million hectares, mainly in the northern states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana.
- The central state of Madhya Pradesh, the western state of Gujarat and the north-western state of Rajasthan produce high-protein wheat.
- India consumes about 76 million tonnes of wheat a year. The government needs around 13 million tonnes every year for subsidised sales to the poor.
- Wheat is used to cook Indian unleavened bread items such as rotis, chapatis and naans. It is a key staple in a country where the majority spend most of their income on food.
- Wheat is vulnerable to climate change. Lower moisture levels at the time of planting in October and higher temperatures in February, when the crop is almost ready for harvest, pose severe threats to the crop.
- Higher temperatures in February hit the country's wheat output in 2005, forcing India to turn to global markets. In its first imports in six years, India bought 5.5 million tonnes in 2006. Import orders were 1.8 million tonnes in 2007.
- Record prices after acute scarcity in previous years pushed farmers to increase sowing of wheat, helping output soar to 80.8 million tonnes in 2010. State-run Food Corp of India bought 25.5 million tonnes of wheat from local farmers in 2010.
- There is a blanket ban on wheat exports but the government had permitted millers to sell 650,000 tonnes of wheat products until March 2011.
- India has been allowing tiny wheat exports to some neighbouring nations through diplomatic channels. (Reporting by Mayank Bhardwaj; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)