Wheat flour prices hit a record high as production falls in India

The average retail price of wheat flour has risen to its highest in India as production has fallen. Atta prices were at Rs 32.38 per kg in April and it is the highest since January 2010. The demand for wheat has risen outside India due to the supply shortage caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

While the average price is around Rs 32, the highest price was reported in Port Blair (Rs 59/kg) and the lowest in West Bengal's Purulia (Rs 22/kg). Wheat flour retail price across the metro cities varies and it was the highest in Mumbai (Rs 49/kg), followed by Chennai (Rs 34/kg), Kolkata (Rs 29/kg), and Delhi (27/kg).

A report by State Civil Supplies Departments to the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution says the all-India average retail price of wheat flour was Rs 32.78/ kg on Saturday (May 7). It was Rs 30.03 per kg a year ago, reported The Indian Express.

The price of wheat flour has been on the rise since January 2022 and experts say the fall in production and the rise in demand caused by the Ukraine war are the reasons. The high domestic price of fuel is also affecting the logistics cost.

There has been a higher demand for Indian wheat from several nations because Russia and Ukraine were together exporting over a quarter of the world's wheat.

The Indian government had set a wheat production target of 110 million tonnes for 2021-22. A second advance estimate released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on February 16 put the target at 111.32 million tonnes. But the sudden early arrival of summer in March disrupted the plans.

A statement by the Food Ministry cited the early onset of summer as the reason for the decline in wheat yield. Union Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said last week that wheat production is expected to be around 105 million tonnes which is short of the target.