The Price of Bread

Katrin is away this week; I’ll be your host. We’re going to start the week by looking at the trouble in the world’s breadbaskets. One of the most ominous facets of the war in Iran has been the effect on fertilizer prices. Thanks to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, they shot up at exactly the wrong time — during the spring planting season in the Northern Hemisphere. The consequences are still playing out, but they will come at a time when the world is already facing high food prices. Today, my colleague Somini Sengupta writes about that all-important staple: wheat. Image A combine harvester in Seeluebbe, Germany, this month. Credit... Lisi Niesner/Reuters Drone strikes and devilish weather By Somini Sengupta Instant noodles. Hot chapatis. Sliced bread. Wheat is at the heart of the modern diet. But this year, the breadbaskets of the world are in trouble. Heat and drought have diminished harvests in some of the biggest wheat-producing countries. What little wheat is being harvested is now more expensive to transport, thanks to war and weather. We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in . Want all of The Times? Subscribe .