Now look at how much fertilizer Russia produces (~23% global supply of ammonia, 14% of urea and 21% of potash). That affects a lot more than just wheat. Food costs are going to soar way beyond what they currently are, world-wide.
> Natural gas is a commonly used as a feedstock to produce two nitrogen-based fertilizers – ammonia and urea – in large quantities.
> In the production of ammonia or urea, natural gas is processed at an upgrading plant together with nitrogen (taken from the air). During the process, 80% of the gas is used as feed¬stock for fertilizer, while the remaining 20% is used for heat and electricity production. The two main end products, ammonium nitrate and urea, are then mixed with other ingredients—mainly phosphorus and potassium—to manufacture a range of synthetic fertilizers for use on farms.
Easy fix is for the west to forbid anyone to sell food to China.
China can drink Russia's cheap oil and eat Russia's scarse, expensive food while the rest of the world has stomachs full of the food that would have gone to China.
Now that Russia is the world's biggest wheat producer, it seems that Russian food will be neither scarce nor expensive. And also seeing that it produces a good proportion of the world's fertiliser, it seems that food grown elsewhere will be scarce and expensive.
Sounds like a great time to promote contraception, abortion, education for women as global values. Africa and West Asia's exponential population growth had to end at some point.
They'll be fine, I expect no prolonged famine, if any. Population growth will continue as expected. Ignoring western sanctions in exchange for food is a good idea if it comes to that.
