India's better-than-expected monsoon rains are likely to boost Asia's third largest economy as a robust harvest could push up rural incomes and drive demand for manufactured goods, economists said.

The weather office said on Wednesday the Southwest monsoon was likely to be normal with rains in July, crucial for crop sowing, expected to be 102 percent of the long-period average.

The monsoon is the lifeline of the Indian economy as the farm sector accounts for 25 per cent of GDP and employs about seven of every 10 people in the country of more than a billion people.

"A good monsoon means a higher income for the farming sector which drives a major chunk of demand," said S D Brahmankar, economist with independent think-tank National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER).

Analysts expect the economy to grow around six per cent in the year to March 2004, a view seconded by the central bank. Analysts say low interest rates will also spur demand as consumers take advantage of cheaper financing options. India's interest rates have fallen to historic lows with the benchmark bank rate at a three-decade low of six percent.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, 10^th July '03
(Website : www.economictimes.com)

Indian Institue of Plantation Management, Bangalore; Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi, Gitam Institute of foreign Trade, Visakhapatnam are teogether organising two National Seminars on commodity futures Bangalore - July 10th & 11th, and At Delhi on July 15th and 16th.

The Central Organisation for Oil Industry and Trade lowered its estimates on Tuesday of the country's oilseed output during the current year to October, saying yields had turned out to be lower than projected in March.

The trade body estimated oilseed production at 15.38 million tonnes, 4.6 per cent lower than its earlier forecast of 16.13 million tonnes. The country produced 20.24 million tonnes in the previous year.

"Crop productivity has sharply fallen in 2002/03 from the previous year due to less ground moisture following poor rains," Sandeep Bajoria, chairman of the organisation, said.

Mustard output has been estimated at 3.75 million tonnes, compared with the March forecast of 4.3 million tonnes and last year's production of 4.85 million tonnes.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, 01^st July '03
(Website : www.economictimes.com)

Centre announces waiver on agri loans

The centre announced waiver of interest on agricultural loans, for a period of one year, for the areas affected by drought last year.

Union Agriculture Minister Rajnath Singh said this on the sidelines of the two-day Haryana BJP executive meeting. He told that though the Centre has issued an appeal to the drought-affected states not to press farmers for reclamation of agriculture loans for that year, some state governments were not sticking to it.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, 29^th June '03
(Website : www.economictimes.com)

India and Thailand will sign an accord for cooperation in the field of agricultural science, technology and economy.

The Union Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Thailand in this regard.

Under the MoU, bilateral cooperation in these areas will be through joint activities and exchanges in the areas of agricultural and forestry research, post-harvest technology, plant biotechnology, soil and water conservation and watershed management, soil survey and land use planning.

It will also cover agro-forestry and farming systems, crop production and processing, sericulture, horticulture, livestock production and health, seed storage and packing, farm mechanization development and extension, promotion of joint ventures in agri-business, irrigation and drainage and other activities.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, 21^st June '03
(Website : www.economictimes.com)

The delay in the monsoon has adversely affected the prospects of an economic recovery in the current fiscal and raised the risk of drought and water shortages, according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).

The economic think tank in its monthly review today said the prospects for economic recovery in 2003-04 "suffered a blow" as the south west monsoon failed to hit the Kerala coast on June one.

CMIE said the sowing of early kharif cereals commenced in major producing states but the area under coverage till May end was down to 2.2 lakh hectares compared to 4.5 lakh hectares in same period last year.Cotton sowing was also down by 0.4 lakh hectares while that of sugarcane grew by 0.4 lakh hectares, it added.Areas sown under rice was near normal in Assam and were expected to be normal in Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa, CMIE added. Punjab and Harayana being well-irrigated areas, farmers in this region generally completed planting work prior to monsoon, the think tank said.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, 09^th June '03
(Website : www.economictimes.com)

Punjab, India's leading wheat producing northern state, plans to boost production of high-protein wheat to capture the niche export market, particularly the Middle East, a farm official said on Wednesday.

Farmers in Punjab and central Madhya Pradesh have been growing durum wheat in small quantities but production has been limited due to the absence of favourable markets and a lack of knowledge among farmers. "Now farmers know that the country is exporting a lot of wheat and there is a premium for high-protein wheat in the global market," S.S. Bassi, an official implementing Punjab's wheat programme said.

State-run farm agencies will provide seeds for growing durum wheat over 100,000 acres (40,470 hectares) when the new sowing season starts in October. The seeds were expected to yield about 160,000 tonnes of durum wheat, which contains about 12 percent protein compared with about 9.5 percent normally found in wheat grown in India.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, 28^th May '03
(Website : www.economictimes.com)

MPAMB ties up with global firm for e-marketing from mandis

Green revolution was 'inadequate and inequitable': report