India's food supply chain during the pandemic

We document the impact of India's COVID-19 lockdown on the food supply chain. Food arrivals in wholesale markets dropped by 69% in the three weeks following the lockdown and wholesale prices rose by 8%. Six weeks after the lockdown began, volumes and prices had fully recovered. The initial food supply shock was highly correlated with early incidence of COVID-19. We provide evidence that this correlation is due more to state-level lockdown policy variation than local responses of those in the food supply chain. Finally, during the recovery phase, the correlation between the food supply disruption and COVID-19 exposure disappeared, suggesting uniform recovery.

Automated summary

The impact of India's COVID-19 lockdown on the food supply chain was significant, with initial disruptions followed by a full recovery in both volumes and prices six weeks later. The correlation between food supply disruption and early incidence of COVID-19 was more influenced by state-level lockdown policies rather than local responses within the food supply chain. During the recovery phase, this correlation disappeared, indicating a uniform recovery.