The government said it was imposing the ban after retail rice prices climbed 3% in a month as late monsoon rains damaged crops. While a late monsoon caused a major shortfall of rain up to mid-June, heavy rains since have caused significant damage. India accounts for more than 40% of world rice exports but low inventories mean any cut in shipments will fuel food prices driven up by Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year and erratic weather. His administration has extended a ban on wheat exports after curbing rice shipments in September 2022. "India would disrupt the global rice market with far greater velocity than Ukraine did in the wheat market with Russia's invasion," B.V. Krishna Rao, president of the Rice Exporters Association told Reuters.

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Persons: Rice, Narendra Modi, Krishna Rao, Rao, El, Michael Hogan, Jan Harvey, David Evans, Conor Humphries Organizations: Rice, Association, Reuters, El, Farmers, El Nino, Thomson Locations: India, Ukraine, DELHI, Asia, Thailand, Vietnam, New Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rice, West Bengal, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, China, Philippines, Hamburg