Contract farming by leading exporters and excellent weather have boosted the quality and output of India's aromatic Basmati rice, popular in the niche export market, traders and officials said on Wednesday. The country is likely to produce around 1.7 to 1.8 million tonnes in 2003/04 (July-June) compared with last year's 1.3 million tonnes of long-grain rice.

Leading exporters entered into contracts with farmers, mainly in the northern state of Punjab, this year to produce long-grain rice for which they supplied top-quality seeds and monitored the entire growing process. The agricultural state of Punjab plans to increase the area under contract farming for Basmati crop to 125,000 acres next year from around 90,000 acres this year.

Courtesy: www.reuters.com, 25^th Feb '04
(Website : www.reuters.com)

India's economy, Asia's third largest, grew by 8.9 percent in the fiscal third quarter, outstripping 8.4 percent growth in the second quarter from July to September, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh said on Thursday. Growth was 8.4 percent in the second quarter. The farm-dependent India economy is now expected to expand by 8.1 percent in the year to March 2004, double the previous year.

Courtesy: www.reuters.com, 19^th Feb '04
(Website : www.reuters.com)

India's grains output in 2003/04 (July-June) is likely to rise to around 212-215 million tonnes from 182.6 million tonnes in the previous year when production was hit by drought, the farm ministry said on Monday. "Assisted by an excellent monsoon last year, Indian agriculture has resurged after a setback received due to the drought," a ministry statement quoted Agriculture Secretary R.C.A. Jain as saying.

The country received the best rains in a decade in the June-September season last year, raising prospects of a bumper grains and oilseeds crop. Indian agriculture has recovered after the setback in 2002/03 due to the severe drought, Jain told a meeting of state farm officials which is expected to finalise the size of its 2003/04 grains and oilseeds output on Tuesday.

Courtesy: www.reuters.com, 16^th Feb '04
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India's wheat production this year is forecast to hit record levels after good monsoon rains and excellent weather in the post-sowing phase, a senior farm ministry official said on Wednesday. The country's wheat output in 2004 is expected to reach around 76 million tonnes compared with 69.32 million tonnes last year, when the country was hit by the worst drought in 15 years, S. Nagarajan, director, Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI), told.

India produced its highest ever wheat output of 76.4 million tonnes in 2000. Nagarajan said the country, which consumes around 55 million tonnes a year, will have enough marketable surplus. "This year, we will have enough stock for value addition, exports and other such things."

Courtesy: www.reuters.com, 11^th Feb '04
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India Tuesday appointed a commission of experts to set up a panel to study the problems faced by farmers. To be headed by Planning Commission member Som Pal, the National Commission on Farmers will have several agriculture experts to review the status of Indian farming, which provides livelihood to 60 percent of the country's population and constitutes a quarter of the gross domestic product (GDP).

During its two-year tenure, the commission will recommend policies, programmes and measures for accelerated and diversified agricultural development to alleviate rural poverty and help make farming more remunerative.

Besides addressing the issues of agricultural technology and input delivery mechanism, the panel would examine existing prices and marketing policies, and legal framework for improving the incomes and welfare of farmers, the agriculture ministry said.

Courtesy: www.keralanext.com, 10^th Feb '04
(Website : www.keralanext.com)

AFTER a good kharif harvest, the country appears headed for a satisfactory rabi crop too. Barring jowar, the area under almost all rabi crops has shown an increase. According to an Agriculture Ministry statement, besides a normal monsoon last year, active western disturbances during December and January have brought moderate to light precipitation or rains in North and East India. "This is considered to be beneficial to rabi crops," the statement said.

Wheat sowing has almost been completed and the area covered has equalled the normal sowing of 266 lakh hectares (lh). The foodgrains trade based on wheat sowing has estimated its production to be 75-78 million tonnes this year. As regards rice sowing, over 20 lh have been covered against 17.10 lh last year. In case of jowar, the coverage has been two per cent lower than the normal 53 lh. On the other hand, maize (corn) has been sown in 6.95 lh against five lh last year.

Courtesy: Business Line, 7^th Feb '04
(Website : www.thehindubusinessline.com)

Wooing India's large farmer base, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh Tuesday assured them of loans with interest rates less than nine percent, reasonable collateral and credit cards by March 31. What is more, existing credit cards held by farmers would be modified for use on ATM machines, Singh said presenting the interim budget or vote-on-account for 2004-05 in parliament. Special relief packages are also in offing for the sugar and tea industry.

This year, with a higher agriculture growth, India is looking forward to around 7.5-8.0 percent GDP growth, as against just 4.0 percent in the 2002-03 fiscal. While the government has already reduced the crop loans by state-owned banks to nine percent, Singh said to help usher in the second green revolution, the Indian Banks Association had been urged to further lower the interest rates for agriculture purposes.

To ensure availability of timely credit, all eligible farmers have been assured of kisan credit cards by March 31, while existing credit cards would be modified on individual request for use on ATM machines. The farm income insurance scheme presently implemented in 20 districts on a pilot basis is to be extended to 100 districts from the kharif, or summer, crop season after the agriculture ministry has worked out the details.

Courtesy: www.keralanext.com, 3^rd Feb '04
(Website : www.keralanext.com)

India raised the support price for the summer rapeseed crop to 16,000 rupees ($351.6) a tonne from 13,300 rupees in a bid to encourage farmers to grow more, a government statement said on Thursday. But the minimum support price for wheat was raised only marginally to 6,300 rupees from 6,200.

The minimum support price is fixed by the government each year before the harvest begins. The government's procurement agencies step up buying if market rates fall below the support price levels. The country's summer crops are sown in November-December and harvested in March and April. Prices of safflower have been raised to 15,000 rupees, an increase of 2,000 rupees.

The country is expected to harvest a summer oilseed crop of 8.5-9.0 million tonnes, compared with 6.0 million in the previous summer, because of ideal weather in the growing regions, traders said.

India, the world's largest edible oil buyer, imports nearly half its vegetable oil requirement of more than 10 million tonnes. It buys palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia and soyoil from Argentina and Brazil.

Courtesy: www.reuters.com, 18^th Dec '03
(Website : www.reuters.com)

The removal of agricultural quotas under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) will spur sliding tractor sales as farm export will boost agricultural incomes, says a study by Icra.

The farm sector, which accounts for a quarter of GDP, remains a key growth driver as close to 70 per cent of the country's billion-plus population is agriculture-income dependent.

"With the removal of quotas, Indian agriculture would have a major opportunity to export many commodities in which it has a comparative advantage," the report said.

"Sales would jump next fiscal due to the bumper crop output witnessed this year as a result of good monsoon," a spokesman for Escorts said.

Courtesy: The Telegraph, 2^nd Nov '03
(Website : www.telegraphindia.com)

The cotton crop in Punjab is expected to be 13.75 lakh bales this season, which is an up surge of three lakh bales over last year, said Minister of State for Agriculture Amarjit Singh Samra. He said that the support price for desi cotton is Rs 1800-2000 and while Rs 2600-2800 for the superior cotton . He said the weather condition in the cotton belt is suitable for the crop and the average yields has been estimated at 450 kg per heactare this year, compared to last year's 409 Kg.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, 26^th Sept '03
(Website : www.bharattextile.com)