Russia's Buckwheat crunch-Real scarcity or fear of shortage?

The recent headline news about the panic that has gripped Russia over the reported scarcity of Buckwheat in the market raises a pertinent question as to why Russians are so obsessed with this pseudo grain which after all is not related to real wheat? While wheat is produced all over the world in terms of millions of tons and most western countries eat wheat as their staple, why Russians prefer Buck wheat over real wheat? As against an estimated annual global wheat production of about 715 million tons (mt), Buck wheat production was a measly 2.3 mt! Still an economic power like Russia feels threatened by a temporary shortage of this food grain! It is difficult to hazard a guess regarding the reason for this strange phenomenon though one can attribute this affinity for Buckwheat to historical facts dating back to the Russian Empire.

Buck wheat is known to mankind as far back as 8000 years ago and there is ample evidence to substantiate this fact. There was a time when Russians were growing and consuming as much as 6.5 mt of Buckwheat, about hundred years ago which started sliding down to about 4.5 mt in 1970 and production of Buckwheat in present day Russia is hardly 0.8 mt. It is China which took a gigantic step forward in growing this food grain producing about 0 .72 mt, a close second to Russia followed by Ukraine, an erstwhile part of Soviet Union recording a production of 0.28 mt. Probably Chinese must have taken up growing of Buckwheat largely for export to Russia. What has led to the present hysteria among Russian population to buy the grain in large quantities for stocking, may be speculation and rumors about shortage caused by the biting economic sanctions imposed by the western powers on Russia to punish it for its transgressions in neighboring Ukraine. One is reminded of the great salt shortage 4 decades ago in Soviet Union which also drove the people to stock salt which was later emptied into the drains causing heavy choking of drains in places like Moscow! One can attribute this to the "siege" mentality among the Russians to the bitter experience they had during the Communist rule when every consumer item was in short supply due to systemic flaws in the economy. Also the actual production of Buckwheat has declined this year by about 20% compared to last year due to wide scale drought reported in the growing regions of the country.

Buckwheat is a nutritious food grain, probably much better than the conventional wheat and being a staple food Russians are better off in terms of their over all health index. Added to this they are heavy meat eaters and the versatility of Buckwheat in blending with almost all other foods lends itself to ready acceptability across all segments of population. Its high protein content of about 18% ( non gluten), high nutritional quality of Biological Value over 92% and ample presence of minerals like Iron, Magnesium, Selenium, Zinc and high antioxidant content including the unique Rutin makes Buckwheat a nutritionist's dream food. Further presence of a rare biochemical, D-chiro-inositol DCI), a component of the secondary messenger pathway for insulin signal transduction makes it a deserving candidate for treating Type II diabetes in humans. Generally diabetics lack DCI in their system and consumption of Buckwheat is suggested as a therapy for ameliorating diabetic conditions significantly.  

Industrial use of Buckwheat is showing an increase for some time now as it is used by some brewers to make gluten free beer catering to those allergic to gluten. Buckwheat has similar malting characteristics comparable to that of barley. in the US Buckwheat is attracting more and more attention as a health food, some describing it as the "world's healthiest food". Besides, the explosive growth of gluten-free food industry there, it has found a ready ally in this grain and demand for it is bound to grow in the coming years. The proteins found in Buckwheat flour act as a functional ingredient in food formulations with reported claims that it reduces plasma cholesterol, body fat and cholesterol in gallstones. Many nutrition experts agree with the view that a daily intake of 100 gm of Buckwheat can consistently lower serum cholesterol levels significantly, lower LDL values and elevate HDL levels which is attributed to the presence of Rutin, a well established antioxidant in the grain.    

As far as Russians are concerned Buckwheat has values beyond that which makes it a good and balanced food. For them it is a "national idea". Though it was cultivated and introduced to Russia by early Mughal invaders in 13th century, it being the main food of Byzantine monks, Russia readily accepted Buck wheat giving it the name "Grechka". Today Buck wheat is consumed in Russia in many forms like porridge for breakfast, mixed with chopped liver for lunch in preparations for dinner and in a variety of other ways. It is ubiquitous in restaurants, cafeterias, schools, hospitals, military barracks, prisons and in almost every house hold. Naturally having got used to it no wonder Russians are panicking at the first sign of scarcity as they did with salt 4 decades ago!

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

A BUCKWHEAT "RIOT"?-THE RUSSIAN WOES

Russians are known for their "scarcity" syndrome which makes them hoard any commodity which is likely to become scarce in the market. The great shortage of salt that occurred three decades ago caused severe damage to the sewage drains because all salt stocks stored by the people during the shortage were flushed through the drains once salt availability eased! A similar situation is happening in that country to day because of the perceived scarcity of Buckwheat which is an important part of the diet for many people and every grain available is being siphoned off from the market by those who can afford to buy large quantities. The retail price ruling at about 50 cents a pound last year more than doubled this year making what ever is available in the market dearer.

Buckwheat is not a real wheat but it is considered some what more nutritious than the latter, being rich in high value protein (18%) but not gluten type and other nutrients like Iron, Zinc, Selenium and antioxidants like Rutin and Tannins. Russia is the leading producer accounting for more than 50% of world production. The unusual weather conditions that affected wheat production forcing the country to ban global exports, have also reduced the production of Buckwheat, creating a psychological fear about its availability. Looking back at history, unless the present government takes drastic measures to address the problem, uncontrolled unrest may still be a distinct possibility.

Unlike in the past there does not appear to be any let up from the Buckwheat shortage this year and the prevailing heat wave conditions, wide scale forest fires and extensive drought seem to be making the situation more grim for the Buckwheat supply. The familiar scenario of consumers, especially those belonging to the older generation, used to the daily diet from Buckwheat, trudging from one super market to another one in search of their staple continues to daunt the government and the matter is so serious that no less a person than the president of the country is visiting many provincial centers to personally assuage the feelings of the scared consumers, assuring immediate remedy to the situation. Government seems to have taken a stand that the shortage is not natural but artificially created by hoarders to hike up the market prices for financial gains. How far these "hoarders" would be able to thwart the credibility of the government remains to be seen.

Talking about hoarders, the natural question is about the identity of them because under the almost autocratic rule in Russia where punishment could be swift and severe for wrong doers, it is doubtful whether the traders would resort to cornering of stocks and naturally suspicion centers around the rich consumers who could have caused the present situation due to panic and apprehension. After all the production has fallen just by 30% and Buckwheat is not the main stream food, that role going to wheat. It is a historical truth that Russians had lived just on Potatoes during World War II and a small dip in production of a commodity like Buckwheat cannot be expected to impinge on the hunger or nutrition status of the population. But history has also recorded the bitter fact that even during the rule of the Czars, shortages of flour, sausage, table salt and Vodka had led to political unrest and probably the present rulers may also be worrying about the same.

The 2007 food riots in Asia and recent incidences in some parts of Africa are indicative of more frequent such episodes as a result of the demand for food outstripping production in many parts of the world and inflationary pressures that deny access to available foods in the market. Social unrests because of such imbalances in food sourcing can adversely affect world peace and the rich countries also will be sucked into the vortex of such developments.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

GLOBAL WHEAT "TURBULENCE"-SPECULATIVE PRACTICES RAISING PRICES

Wheat market is getting more and more turbulent with Russia backtracking on its export commitments because of the severe drought ravaging the country. It is considered crucial that the global market is not allowed to "heat up" due to the temporary hiccup in grain production in one of the several countries that dominate wheat market in the world. Russia is 5th largest producer of wheat behind the EU, China, India and the US. According to market watchers what ever drop in global production has happened, that can be more than made up by the available stock in other countries like China, India, the US and Canada. India alone is sitting on a grain "mountain" estimated at 60 million tons (including rice), not knowing what to do with its surplus with severe constraint on domestic storage space for these grains. Any large export by India is considered fraught with the risk of price collapse in the world trade in wheat. It is unfortunate that there is no international cooperation amongst top producers to evolve a strategy to manage the present situation which is causing abnormal spurts in the price in the international market.

It may be recalled that a similar crisis occurred in 2008 when there was a severe drought in Australia leading to world wide shortages, fall in over all production and extensive embargoes on food export across Asia. This even led to "food riots" in Indonesia and Pakistan. At least one could understand the provocative but genuine cause for such disruption to global food supply at that time. The price of wheat, one of the major staples in the world shot up through the roof reaching $13 a bushel, a historical and unparalleled high in wheat price. But how is it possible that wheat prices are surging to day when there is a relatively small shortfall in production, that too in one country and global production recorded the third highest figure in history?. There is already dire forecasts that next years production would be less though such threat perceptions are generated by vested business interests, intent on creating opportunities to make unjustified profits on the fear of possible future shortage of wheat. It is feared that the consequences of such manipulations will ultimately affect the consumers in the rich as well as the poor countries. While higher wheat prices will reflect in higher prices for a wide range of wheat based consumer products like bread, biscuits, pizzas, rolls etc in industrialized countries, it will also affect poor and the hungry in the third world depending on imported wheat for survival. Who are going to be benefited by this unjustified distortion in wheat prices? Of course the rich farmers in the US, Canada, Australia and Europe who will laugh all the way to their banks with windfalls in wheat exports at high prices. Already farmers' organizations from the US are touring some of the Asian countries to bag orders for their wheat.

What is intriguing in the whole situation is why the Russians chose to announce the embargo on export now, even without waiting for the season to end? Are they in league with global wheat traders? After all Russia produced less than 50 million tons in 2007 while this year's projection was 90 million tons but they are still likely to harvest not less than 75 million tons. How can there be shortages there? Export commitments could have been met through bilateral consultations and accommodations with countries like India and China but it did not happen raising questions about the transparency of wheat trading system in the world. Is there no way to counteract the machinations of the wheat traders and ensure some stability in wheat prices? With massive subsidies that fatten the rich farmers in the US and Europe, it is very easy for these countries to raise wheat production but probably they may not do it because the scarcity will benefit their farmers in a big way. Considering that the US and India put together have more than 100 million tons of food grains in stock, the relatively small shortfall of production in Russia, should not have affected the global prices and a genuinely concerted effort by these countries with large stocks would have thwarted the efforts of speculators to ratchet up the prices under misplaced apprehensions. There is also the uncertainty regarding the attitude of China, top most producer of wheat in the world, to the present crisis, though they may not venture directly into global market for fear of escalation of domestic wheat prices. It is small consolation that the prices have not reached any where near the record highs in 2008 and there is still time for tackling this problem, given the dynamics of the situation.

In India's case there is already some apprehension that there would be a drop in production next year and this has clouded the thinking on the part of the government. As a knee-jerk reaction the high flying Food Minister has announced a slew of measures to augment the storage capacity, though no one is sure whether this would be translated into reality in the near future, knowing well the snail-like progress of government projects. Probably GOI could consider a strategic tie-up with Russia to loan to them some of the surplus grains for returning it next year when the production would pick up there, restoring normalcy in farming. By that time hopefully the new storage structures might be ready for use. Countries like China and the US have sufficient flexibility in their farming system to increase production within a short period. The present situation should not be allowed to be exploited by speculators for raising global prices that will affect the lives of millions of poor people who depend on purchase of wheat from international market by their countries. Led by Egypt the wheat importing countries in the third world constitute the largest net importers of wheat and they include Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Algeria, Nigeria, Iraq, Yemen, Bangladesh etc accounting for more than 90% of the 70 million tons traded in the world.

V.H.POTTY

http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com