India reopened wheat exports in August 2026 — and you should still write a policy clause

On 24 August 2026 the Directorate General of Foreign Trade issued notifications lifting India’s export restrictions on wheat and durum wheat and allowing free export of wheat flour products including atta, maida and rava, effective immediately and subject to normal export regulations. Earlier in 2026 a partial relaxation had permitted 2.5 million tonnes of wheat and 1 million tonnes of wheat products under a government-monitored allocation system; the August notifications went considerably further.

The background is supply. India is the world’s second-largest wheat producer after China and is expected to harvest around 120 million tonnes in the 2026-27 marketing season, a fourth consecutive record according to the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service.

Now the part a supplier is not supposed to write. A policy that closed for four years can close again. Export restrictions on staple grains are a political instrument everywhere, and India has used this one within living memory of your current contracts. So treat the reopening as an opportunity, not a guarantee: put an explicit export-policy clause in the contract covering what happens to unshipped volume if the position changes, agree how the risk is shared, and do not design a single-origin supply chain around any one country — India included. We would rather sell you a second origin than lose you to a surprise.

An organic certificate tells you nothing about baking performance

This is the most common and most expensive misunderstanding in organic wheat, and it costs more than any of the others in this guide.

An organic certificate is a process standard. It governs what may and may not be applied during production and handling, and it traces a lot back to a certified operator. It says nothing about protein, gluten quality, enzyme activity or dough rheology — the properties that actually decide whether the wheat makes your product. Two lots can carry identical organic certificates and behave completely differently in your mill or bakery.

So specify the functional properties separately and explicitly:

An honest word on origin. Indian common wheat generally runs at medium protein with rheology different from Canadian or US hard wheat, and Indian durum, while improving, is less uniform than established Canadian or Italian durum. That is a reason to contract vitreousness, yellow index and the Alveograph values rather than assume them, and to mill a sample before the first container — not a reason to avoid the origin. Specify and sample; do not extrapolate from another origin’s typical values.

In organic wheat, Fusarium toxin control is agronomic — which is exactly why your sampling plan matters more

This is the organic trade-off for wheat, and it is worth understanding properly rather than being reassured about.

Conventional growers control Fusarium head blight — the fungal infection that produces deoxynivalenol (DON) and zearalenone — with triazole fungicides applied around flowering. Organic production does not have that tool.

Control therefore rests entirely on agronomy: rotation away from maize and cereals, variety selection for resistance, management of crop residue, harvest timing, and rapid drying and cleaning after harvest. These measures work. But they are seasonal and weather-dependent in a way a spray programme is not — a wet flowering period is a wet flowering period.

The conclusion is not that organic wheat is riskier. It is that the certificate does not do this job, so the sampling plan has to. Under the European Union framework in Regulation (EU) 2023/915 as amended by Regulation (EU) 2024/1022, the maximum level for deoxynivalenol is 1,000 µg/kg for unprocessed wheat, 1,500 µg/kg for unprocessed durum wheat and 600 µg/kg for cereal milling products. Confirm the current levels and application dates with your own regulatory advisers; limits are revised and other destinations differ.

Mycotoxins are heterogeneously distributed in a grain lot, so how you sample decides what you find. Agree an incremental sampling plan against a recognised protocol, specify the number of increments and the aggregate sample size, and name the laboratory and its accreditation. A single grab sample with a clean result is not evidence about a 25-tonne lot.

Ergot, separately

Specify ergot sclerotia and ergot alkaloids as their own line items rather than folding them into foreign matter. They are separately regulated in the EU, and visual sclerotia limits and alkaloid limits are not the same test.

And organic is not an analytical zero

The standard point across our organic range applies here too. Organic certification governs what may be applied; drift from neighbouring conventional fields and carry-over on shared cleaning, drying and handling lines do produce detections in genuinely organic grain. Keep a residue plan in the contract for organic wheat as well. Note also that glyphosate is used as a pre-harvest desiccant on wheat in some origins — organic prohibits it, and as with lentils the order of magnitude is the tell: drift sits in parts per billion, so a parts-per-million result is a traceability question rather than a drift question.

Storage pests: no synthetic fumigants, and khapra beetle

Organic prohibits synthetic fumigants, so storage pest control has to be achieved another way — typically controlled atmosphere, CO₂, or Modified Atmosphere Treatment under India’s NSPM-25. Agree the method in writing and have it named on the documents rather than left implicit.

Khapra beetle (Trogoderma granarium) needs specific attention with Indian-origin grain. The pest is endemic in the region and is treated as a regulated quarantine pest by a number of importing countries, each with its own entry requirements governing treatment, certification and inspection. Confirm what applies at your destination with your own plant health authority and customs broker before contracting. A container held at the border costs more than any specification you could have written, and this is a point where the right answer is the destination’s rule, not a supplier’s assurance.

The organic paperwork, in three layers

And the rule we apply across the organic range: verify the operator’s status with the certifying body directly rather than accepting a scanned PDF.

Reference specification

Origin, season and shipping

Indian wheat is grown across Madhya Pradesh (source of the premium sharbati types), Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, with durum concentrated in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka. It is a rabi crop, sown around November and December and harvested from March into April. Certified organic volume is aggregated from certified grower groups, so lot consistency, sealed retention samples and early volume commitment matter — particularly where protein and falling number must hold across a season.

Documents

• NPOP organic certificate with certifier name, accreditation and scope; lot-level transaction certificate via TraceNet
• NOP Import Certificate for the US or TRACES NT COI for the EU
• Importer Exporter Code from DGFT; APEDA registration; FSSAI licence; facility certifications; Halal and Kosher where the market requires
• Certificate of analysis: protein on stated moisture basis, falling number, wet gluten and gluten index, test weight, moisture, broken and shrivelled, heat-damaged, sprouted, foreign matter, other grains, stones, weed seeds, insect damage — plus Alveograph W and P/L and the durum parameters where contracted
• Mycotoxin report with the sampling plan stated: DON, zearalenone, ochratoxin A, aflatoxins, with accredited laboratory
• Ergot sclerotia and ergot alkaloid results
• Pesticide residue and heavy metal reports with sampling plan
• Treatment declaration naming the method used: no irradiation, no ethylene oxide, no synthetic fumigants
• Phytosanitary certificate, with destination-specific requirements confirmed in advance
• Allergen and line segregation statement; crop year and packing date; sealed retention sample reference; previous-cargo declaration
• Certificate of origin; commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading

How to qualify an organic wheat supplier

1. Put an export-policy clause in the contract and agree how unshipped volume is handled if the position changes.
2. State the wheat class and the end use — bread, pasta, biscuit, flour, baby food.
3. Specify protein on a stated moisture basis, with the method named.
4. Contract a minimum falling number; sprout damage does not show in a visual sample.
5. Add wet gluten, gluten index and, where your process needs them, Alveograph W and P/L.
6. For durum, contract vitreousness, yellow index and semolina yield rather than assuming another origin’s typical values.
7. Agree a DON sampling plan — increments, aggregate size, laboratory — not just a limit.
8. Specify ergot sclerotia and alkaloids separately from foreign matter.
9. Confirm destination plant health requirements, khapra beetle included, with your own authority before contracting.
10. Have the storage treatment method named on the documents, since synthetic fumigants are out.

Frequently asked questions

Can India export wheat again?

Yes. DGFT notifications of 24 August 2026 lifted restrictions on wheat and durum and freed exports of atta, maida and rava, effective immediately, after roughly four years. India is the second-largest producer and is expected to harvest around 120 Mt in 2026-27. Still write an export-policy clause into the contract.

Does organic certification tell me about baking quality?

No. It is a process standard covering inputs and traceability. Protein, falling number, gluten index and rheology are separate specifications you have to contract explicitly.

How is DON controlled without fungicides?

Through rotation, resistant varieties, residue management, harvest timing and rapid drying. These work but are weather-dependent, which is why the sampling plan matters more. EU levels are 1,000 µg/kg for unprocessed wheat and 1,500 for durum under Reg (EU) 2023/915 as amended by 2024/1022.

What about khapra beetle?

It is endemic to the region and treated as a regulated quarantine pest by a number of importing countries. Confirm your destination’s requirements with your own plant health authority before contracting, and agree the organic-compatible treatment method in writing.

Which countries import the most wheat?

On 2024 HS 1001.99 figures: Italy ($2.74bn), the Philippines, Brazil, Japan, Germany, South Korea, Türkiye, Mexico, Thailand and the Netherlands. Organic demand concentrates in the EU and North America.

• Yes. DGFT notifications of 24 August 2026 lifted restrictions on wheat and durum and freed exports of atta, maida and rava, effective immediately, after roughly four years. India is the second-largest producer and is expected to harvest around 120 Mt in 2026-27. Still write an export-policy clause into the contract.
• No. It is a process standard covering inputs and traceability. Protein, falling number, gluten index and rheology are separate specifications you have to contract explicitly.
• Through rotation, resistant varieties, residue management, harvest timing and rapid drying. These work but are weather-dependent, which is why the sampling plan matters more. EU levels are 1,000 µg/kg for unprocessed wheat and 1,500 for durum under Reg (EU) 2023/915 as amended by 2024/1022.
• It is endemic to the region and treated as a regulated quarantine pest by a number of importing countries. Confirm your destination’s requirements with your own plant health authority before contracting, and agree the organic-compatible treatment method in writing.

Now the part a supplier is not supposed to write. A policy that closed for four years can close again. Export restrictions on staple grains are a political instrument everywhere, and India has used this one within living memory of your current contracts. So treat the reopening as an opportunity, not a guarantee: put an explicit export-policy clause in the contract covering what happens to unshipped volume if the position changes, agree how the risk is shared, and do not design a single-origin supply chain around any one country — India included. We would rather sell you a second origin than lose you to a surprise.