Image shows people panic buying rice in the US following India's export restrictions
"The government has imposed a temporary ban on the export of raw and processed rice. The restriction will be in effect until December 31, 2023," the statement posted on Telegram said. "The decision was made to maintain stability on the domestic market."
The ban does not apply [to] other members of the Eurasian Economic Union (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan) or South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Moreover, rice can still be shipped abroad for humanitarian aid, or transited through Russian territory.
Earlier this week India, the world's biggest rice exporter, adopted a similar measure, banning overseas sales of non-basmati white rice. New Delhi said the move would "ensure adequate availability" and "allay the rise in prices in the domestic market."
Comment: It's likely that rice is just the beginning, and, as countries restrict exports in order to ensure those at home are able to feed themselves, elsewhere the cost for commodities, that are already spiking due to inflation, will be pushed ever higher. It's quite clear that food security, and the threat of food shortages, is now a focus for most governments - except for those in the West pushing the nefarious Net Zero agenda: