Input cost increases could put many farmers out of business amid shortages caused by the war in Ukraine
Farmers load sacks of fertiliser into a seeder on a wheat field in Nanyang, Henan province, China on October 13 2021. Picture: REUTERS/ALY SONG
Russia’s military action and sanctions imposed by Western governments in response have increased crude oil and natural gas prices, disrupted global freight and affected the supply and cost of fertilisers for farmers in developing countries. "[I] wake up in the middle of the night because someone has an extra sack they are selling on the black market,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
“It’s no longer a question of price — it’s logistics, delivery,” he said. “They have no idea if they’ll have the product to deliver.”Last July, riots and looting rocked SA, catalysed by the arrest of former president Jacob Zuma for corruption. But as grandmothers and children raided grocery stores, it became apparent the chaos was also fuelled by hunger.
Those supplies had long been bought by others, leaving farmers fretting about his recently planted soya beans, maize, beans and wheat.In India, the government is expected to spend a record 1.55- trillion rupees in subsidies to farmers and fertiliser firms this fiscal year to avoid shortages and keep prices affordable.
Brazil has enough potash reserves outside indigenous lands and just needs to develop them, said André Guimarães of the Brazilian Coalition on Climate, Forests and Agriculture, a group of companies and individuals lobbying for a low-carbon economy. “Some of the crisis must be seen as an opportunity,” he said. Research trials in Eastern Cape province show farmers can yield huge tonnages from wheat fields due to good natural soil health after land has been left fallow for a while, he said.
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