Labor shortages prevent sales of India's record wheat crop

The nationwide lockdown since late March is developing into a major problem in India's rural areas. Migrant workers do not come to the harvest, and the packaging and transportation of the harvest prevent sales.
Record crops could also become a stress test in other parts of the world. Brazil's sugar cane industry and the coffee farmers there, as well as the rice farmers in Southeast Asia, are complaining about huge problems with the sale of their large crops. India is the second largest wheat producer in the world after China.
The lockdown already caused India's 7,000 staple food distribution centers to be unable to work. The 1.3 billion people are supplied from there. 90% of the workers were unable to get to work. There has never been anything like it.
India's wheat farmers have to deliver their grain to wholesalers, who in turn serve state and private buyers. These wholesalers employ hordes of workers who unload, clean, weigh, and pack the grain and then load it onto the buyers' vehicles or take them to state deposits.
This year, however, these transshipment points are almost empty and the supply chain in the country with the second largest population in the world has been broken. Millions of workers lose their income in the most important months of the year in which they would earn half of their annual income.
The wholesalers have now started to extend their storage phase from 20 to 30 days to two and a half months. As a result, farmers can deliver a much smaller amount of their crops per day, which in turn means that a lot of grain spoils on the farms. First of all, there is a delay in the flow of money to farmers, who are now not buying any seeds or fertilizers for the next harvest. Sowing begins in June.
In addition, the state-owned purchaser Food Corporation (FCI) displaces private buyers, which leads to a bottleneck in sales. This increases the state's grain supply, which is usually stored unqualified and then spoils. It is different in the western nations of the world.
The wheat harvest in India is estimated at 106.21 million tons this year. Only China harvests more with 133.5 million tons.85% of the farmers in India cultivate arable land of less than 1.3 hectares. Even the lack of income from relatively small areas can destroy the livelihood of families.
The FCI has three times as many grain stores as the government has requested and the storage space is running out. Nevertheless, the poor feeding system is now also at risk and large parts of the population suffer from diseases caused by malnutrition.
The FCI buys grain at fixed prices that are $ 35 / tonne higher than the global market. The aim is to subsidize the rural population. That is why you cannot sell this grain on the world market.