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A30 world news
Diasabra 30 aPriL 2022

Heat wave scorches India’s wheat crop, snags export plans

the region. But government ceeded its domestic needs
“But now it is a much more assessments predict lower — a buffer against the risk of
common event — we can ex- yields this year, and Devinder famine.
pect such high temperatures Sharma, an agriculture policy
about once in every four expert in northern Chandi- Those reserves have been
years,” she said. garh city. said he expected to strained, Sharma said, by dis-
get 25% less. tribution of free grain during
India’s vulnerability to ex- the pandemic to about 800
treme heat increased 15% The story is the same in oth- million people — vulnerable
from 1990 to 2019, according er major wheat-producing groups like migrant workers.
to a 2021 report by the medi- states like Uttar Pradesh and The program was extended
cal journal The Lancet. It is Madhya Pradesh. until September but it’s un-
among the top five countries clear if it will continue be-
where vulnerable people, like Overall, India purchased over yond then.
the old and the poor, have the 43 million metric tons (47.3
highest exposure to heat. It million U.S. tons) of wheat “We are no longer with that
and Brazil have the the high- in 2021. Sharma estimates it kind of a surplus . . . with ex-
(AP) — An unusually ear- Temperatures breached the est heat-related mortality in will instead get 20% to nearly ports now picking up, there
ly, record-shattering heat 45 C (113 F) mark in nine the world, the report said. 50% less. would be a lot of pressure on
wave in India has reduced other cities. the domestic availability of
wheat yields, raising ques- Farm workers like Baldev Even though it is the world’s wheat,” Sharma said.
tions about how the coun- But it was the heat in March Singh are among the most second-largest producer of
try will balance its domes- — the hottest in India since vulnerable. Singh, a farmer in wheat, India exports only a India’s federal agriculture
tic needs with ambitions records first started being Sangrur in northern India’s small fraction of its harvest. It and commerce ministries
to increase exports and kept in 1901 — that stunted Punjab state, watched his had been looking to capital- didn’t respond to questions
make up for shortfalls due crops. Wheat is very sensi- crop shrivel before his eyes as ize on the global disruption sent to them via email.
to Russia’s war in Ukraine. tive to heat, especially during an usually cool spring quickly to wheat supplies from Rus-
the final stage when its ker- shifted to unrelenting heat. sia’s war in Ukraine and find Beyond India, other coun-
Gigantic landfills in India’s nels mature and ripen. Indian He lost about a fifth of his new markets for its wheat in tries are also grappling with
capital New Delhi have farmers time their planting so yield. Others lost more. Europe, Africa, and Asia. poor harvests that hinder
caught fire in recent weeks. that this stage coincides with their ability to help offset the
Schools in eastern Indian India’s usually cooler spring. “I am afraid the worst is yet to That looks uncertain given potential shortfall of supplies
state Odisha have been shut come,” Singh said. the tricky balance the govern- from Russia and Ukraine,
for a week and in neighbor- Climate change has made ment must maintain between normally the world’s largest
ing West Bengal, schools are India’s heat wave hotter, said Punjab is India’s “grain bowl” demand and supply. It needs and fifth-largest exporters of
stocking up on oral rehydra- Friederike Otto, a climate and the government has en- about 25 million tons (27.5 wheat.
tion salts for kids. On Tues- scientist at the Imperial Col- couraged cultivation of wheat million U.S. tons) of wheat
day, Rajgarh, a city of over lege of London. She said that and rice here since the 1960s. for the vast food welfare pro- China’s agriculture minis-
1.5 million people in central before human activities in- It is typically the biggest con- gram that usually feeds more ter, Tang Renjian, said last
India, was the country’s hot- creased global temperatures, tributor to India’s national than 80 million people. month that the winter wheat
test, with daytime tempera- heat waves like this year’s reserves and the government harvest was likely to be poor,
tures peaking at 46.5 degrees would have struck India once had hoped to buy about a Before the pandemic, India hindered by flooding and by
Celsius (114.08 Fahrenheit). in about half a century. third of this year’s stock from had vast stocks that far ex- delays in planting.a
Kenya honors former President Kibaki with state funeral

(AP) — Kenyans are pay- seen something like this. It lence that followed. The international commu- stitution for Kenya that was
ing their last respects to is sad but very colorful,” said nity led by former U.N. Sec- aimed at decentralizing pow-
former President Mwai Mercy Wairimu, a street ven- Amid the stalemate, Kenya retary-General Kofi Annan ers and reducing persistent
Kibaki in a state funeral dor of sweets. exploded into fighting along eventually brokered a fragile ethnic tensions that continue
service Friday that is at- tribal lines that forced more power-sharing deal between to flare up during electoral
tended by African leaders. Kibaki will be buried on Sat- than 600,000 people from Kibaki and Odinga, who set- seasons. The new constitu-
urday at his ancestral home in their homes. The violence tled for a new role as Kenya’s tion was praised as having
Kibaki, whose death was an- central Kenya. shattered Kenya’s standing as prime minister. some of the most progressive
nounced last Friday, has been a beacon of stability in East human rights provisions in
praised by Kenya’s current Before becoming president Africa. In the wake of the violence, the world.
leaders as a respected states- in 2002, Kibaki had a dis- Kibaki oversaw a new con-
man. He was 90. tinguished career as a public
servant. He had served as fi-
Authorities declared Friday nance minister, vice presi-
a public holiday in honor of dent, and official leader of the
Kibaki, who served two terms opposition in the National
as president from 2002 to Assembly. He was often seen
2013. The presidents of Ke- as a gentleman in a country
nya, South Africa and South full of more aggressive politi-
Sudan are among the digni- cians.
taries attending the state fu-
neral in the capital, Nairobi. Kibaki’s reelection to a sec-
ond term in 2007 put a dent
Hundreds of Kenyans stood in his reputation as his victo-
by the roadside to watch a ry was disputed by his oppo-
military procession escorting nent, Raila Odinga. Odinga
the hearse to the national sta- asserted that the election re-
dium where thousands more sult had been rigged and that
had gathered since early he had really won the poll.
morning.
Hundreds of people were
“It is the second time I have killed in weeks of ethnic vio-