A severe drought and wildfires have destroyed one-fifth of Russia's crop and forced the country to draw from emergency reserves.

Internationally, wheat prices have increased nearly 50 percent since June, fueling worries about a repeat of the food crisis in 2008 that triggered riots from Bangladesh to Haiti to Mozambique. Wheat prices in the United States are less likely to remain high, experts said, and a bumper crop could put American farmers in a position to benefit from the low supplies elsewhere.

While commodities analysts emphasized that there is no reason to fear another global wheat shortage, governments and companies worldwide are preparing for the worst.

In Egypt -- one of the biggest importers of wheat and a nation that experienced deadly violence in bread lines two years ago -- the government assured the public that it has a four-month supply of wheat and urged Russia to honor contracts it signed before the ban.

Grain harvests around the world have been devastated by unusual weather this year.

The countryside in western Russia, suffering from the nation's hottest summer since recording began 130 years ago, is now battling wildfires that have engulfed 196,000 hectares (about 484 acres) and are continuing to spread.