India has a huge wheat surplus that is available for export, and the next couple weeks will be crucial for a good harvest. It will be known whether the crop is good this season, soon. India could very easily step into the breach to supply wheat but the problem is that the country is not set up to move out such massive quantities of grain, i.e., terminals, ports, loading facilities etc. That's going to be the bottleneck, not actual production or existing stores of grain.

Sunflower seeds, on the other hand, are going to be a major problem. They are used to extract cooking oil, and Ukraine was a major supplier.

Supermarkets in the UK are already rationing sunflower oil due to the shortage. A lot of concern about food prices in general as a large amount of our processed food is produced with sunflower oil.

Why would Ukraine's missing wheat exports matter that much? Russia and Ukraine are significant exporters of wheat, but their contribution to global wheat production isn't near as impressive. There's plenty of other major exporters who could increase production to help fill the gap. Prices will probably go up in some nations, but I'm sure it will hardly be noticeable compared to everything else the global economy is going through.

And it's not like Russia is just going to stop exporting wheat. Major importers like China will probably be happy to get a better deal on it than years past thanks to sanctions reducing the demand for Russian wheat.

I'd be much more worried about Europe's dependency on Russian natural gas. There are other major natural gas exporters, but I'd expect the market to be much slower to adapt since the product is mostly transported using expensive pipelines. And other nations will probably be more hesitant to increase production significantly due to environmental concerns.

Wheat is unlikely to be a problem in India. Domestic production is high as are buffers. There's enough surplus that Indian wheat is being exported. If the situation changes, the government won't hesitate in banning exports.

Edible oil through is a different story.

When it gets hot in India, what are ways people like to cool off?

My grandma in Australia would drink hot tea when the weather was hot, because that cooled her down. I would go swim in the ocean. When I was in HK, I'd turn up the Aircon.

Are there uniquely Indian ways of cooling off in hot weather?

I have a desert cooler that runs probably > 8hrs a day. I live in an area that's relatively not humid. My family is kinda lucky that we have a lawn surrounding the house and that's full of trees, so that cools the house a bunch as well.

Sometimes we do hang a bunch of palm mats on the windows and spray it with water, for evaporat-ive cooling.

Other than this, we also have lots of juices during the summer, and have diluted buttermilk to drink!

Most of us wear clothes that are loose around the groin and areas where sweat production/accumulation occurs the most.

I've seen a few interesting things:

Most Indians have darker skin, which helps in hot climates. Light-skinned people (caucasians, for example) suffer terribly in the heat and their skin is more prone to sunburns (although dark skin can also burn in the Sun with enough exposure).

- Drinking water from clay pots. The clay pots cool water down better than refrigerators sometimes.

- "Coolers", which are basically high-powered fans that are surrounded by mats woven from the Vetiver plant, through which water continuously circulates. These do a wonderful job of keeping the room cool and also give off a pleasing smell.

- Lemon Soda. This is sold in various formats by street cart vendors. Basically, lemonade or limeade with club soda as the base. My favorite is the 'goli soda', which is vanishing quickly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLXYNjgOwQE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22RXO6x8z1Q

- Watermelons. The Muslim holy month of Ramadan/Ramzan falls in the summer, and watermelons are a favorite for breaking the fast. Everybody enjoys watermelons in this season, and it is a great coolant. There is a notion of 'heating' and 'cooling' foods and drink, and people try to consume the cooling foods in this season. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxYYn4SBd9Q

- Popsicle-like things, known by various names, but basically ice dipped in juices are very popular with children, who buy them from vendors who sell from their carts on the street. They can be found by the roadside all over the country at all times of the day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klnjihAtxGU

- Sugarcane juice: This is a huge favorite in the hot Deccan Plateau in peninsular India. The cane is pressed between rollers that squeeze juice out of the cane, which is mixed with a tiny bit of lemon juice and cooled with ice. Great antidote to the heat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLP4G-PyhU8

- Clothing: Men wear white clothes, in particular those that work outside all day in the Sun. Even if it is soiled, white clothing keeps you cooler outside. Clothing is also loose-fitting and lets air through (rural men literally drape white cloth around their waists, called dhotis, and hike them up to knee height when the weather is hot).

> The Muslim holy month of Ramadan/Ramzan falls in the summer,

A tangential nitpick. Since the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar, the month of Ramadan/Ramzan maps to different months in the Gregorian calendar depending on the year. [1] It has been and will be in the winter months during some of the years.

[1]: https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan#Important_Dates

> high-powered fans that are surrounded by mats woven from the Vetiver plant

For what it's worth, I haven't seen vetiver cooler mats in well over a decade. All I see are mats stuffed with wood shavings.

We cover up when we go out never expose to the sun

Drink a lot of water to stay hydrated

Eat more carbs and less fat and protein

Drink a lot of buttermilk

> Eat more carbs and less fat and protein

Why?

Even European cultures generally consume less fat and protein in the summer versus winter.

Hotter = less calories required to regulate body temperature so lighter foods. Plus eating heavy foods raises your body temperature because it spends more calories digesting the food itself.

As an example from the foods I grew up on (Ukrainian food), borshch in the summer is generally vegetarian and often consumed cold versus meat-laden in the winter...

Might be related to the fact that many carbs are a lot easier for your body to break down.

Good question. I don't know. Just seems to be that way

Wherever the weather is dry people use evaporative coolers. They cost a fraction of what an A/C would cost. People also use curtains made from a local grass called khus. These are sprinkled with water for evaporative cooling. Its unlikely to be unique to India though.

India has a large coast where evaporative cooling doesn't work. Only in central India it is an option.

Evaporative coolers work well where the climate is dry and plenty of water is available. Otherwise not so much.

I live in a temperate climate, where temperature goes up to around 35 degrees Celcius in summertime. I don't tolerate temperatures above ~28 degrees well. To my surprise, I have found that if I go for a short run in the hottest time of the day, that will seemingly kickstart my body's thermal self-regulation and I'll only experience a fraction of the heat discomfort for around ~2 days. If anyone is interested in trying this, be mindful of the dangers of heatstroke and dehydration.

Curd is a must have for Indian lunches if you want to cool yourself.

Slices of onions, cucumbers, etc. also help.