Tropical fruits center to start by June The India demonstration center for promotion of tropical fruits would become operational by June at the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University, according to K Lakshminarayanan, in charge, technology management-APCTT(Asian and Pacific Center for Transfer of Technology). The setting up of the center is being financed by the Amsterdam based Common fund for commodities. While India's center would be in Coimbatore, two more centers would be set up in Colombo and Bangkok. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 28th February '03 Base price for soya oil tariff unchanged Notwithstanding the fall in prices of crude soyabean oil in past few months, the government has left its base price for imposing customs tariff untouched while changing it for brass scrap to $1,042 per tonne from $1028 a tonne. Traders said it seemed the government was refraining from a cut in the tariff value or base price at which customs duty is imposed for crude oil largely imported from the US in wake of the latter's imposition of dumping duty on steel. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 27th February '03 Iron-rich rice After the vitamin A-rich rice, scientist in the International Rice Research Institute, Philippines, have succeeded in producing rice rich in iron content, which may prove important in fighting its deficiency in countries like India. "We have succeeded in producing genetically fortified rice which accumulates as much as three times more iron and zinc than control rice seeds after polishing." SK Datta from IRRI said Courtesy: The Economic Times, 26th February '03 WiLL project to help state farmers tap latest data In a major step towards rural connectivity in Maharashtra, the state government would initiate an integrated project of WiLL (Wireless in local loop) to provide extensive and dynamic information to the farmers through internet and video-conferencing. Chief Minister would inaugurate this project by video-conferencing with the farmers on February 26. The facility could be utilized to access the global agriculture and marketing information for the farmers. This information and various web sites will be accessed daily from the village kiosk. The farmers in the area could browse agriculture related web sites, download agriculture technology, can get meteorological information as well as disaster management plan, forecasting disease and pest incidents and remedies. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 24th February '03 Edible oil soars in AP Edible oil prices have leaped to a record high following the failure of crops like groundnut, sunflower and cotton, coupled with the restricted inflow from Gujarat. This, in turn, has resulted in the oil consumption going down by an estimated 25% in the last month. While the main groundnut oil prices have touched a high of Rs 57 a kg (Rs 49 a kg last year), the sunflower oil prices are hovering at Rs 52 a kg (Rs 45 a kg last year). Even the prices of palm oil have shot up to Rs 40 a kg after coming under severe pressure in the wake of the failure of groundnut and sunflower crops in the state. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 22nd February '03 Andhra grape growers set for rich pickings Grapes harvesting in Andhra Pradesh, which began last week, is picking up momentum in all growing areas spread over the districts of Ranga Reddy, Mahabubnagar, and chittor. This year, the overall output is expected to cross 100,000 hectares in the three districts. As far as international prices for grapes are concerned, the exporters in Ap expect to earn better price this year as compared to last year. Last year, they earned Rs 35 a kg in the UK and other EU markets and Rs 25 to 30 a kg in the Middle East and the South East Asian markets. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 21st February '03 Coffee exports slumps as global prices move south India's coffee exports have slumped by 6.70% in volume and 8.30% in dollar value during calendar year'02, as compared to '01 to 208,771 tonnes from 223,782 tonnes, and to $237m from $257m. The world coffee trade monitors exports on a calendar year basis.Shipments to the world's biggest coffee consuming market, the USA, have slumped by almost 56% in volume and 60% in rupee-value, when compared to previous calendar - to 4,190 tonnes from 9,501 tonnes and to Rs 17.09 crore from Rs 42.23 crore. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 20th February '03 India to seek access for mangoes to Australian market at joint meet Bilateral trade issues including promoting tourism and education sectors and allowing Indian mangoes access to the Australian market are expected to be discussed during the eighth India-Australia joint ministerial commission starting on Monday. Addressing the first session of the three-day meeting, Vinay Bansal, additional secretary in the ministry of commerce and industry, said though considerable progress had been made in enhancing bilateral trade, the same did not reflect the true potential. India's exports to Australia registered an impressive 19.4% growth during April-October'02-03 as compared to the same period last year, an official release said, adding that bilateral trade had also registered an increase by 4.2% at $1 during same period. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 18th February '03 Transport woes may hit wheat exporters hard ASIA's wheat trade is receiving plentiful export offers from Britain and importers are close to striking a few deals as Indian and Chinese export prospects remain unclear, traders said. Chinese wheat offers have slowed down to a trickle, while uncertainty over India's future grain export policy, coupled with transport problems, has led to talk that some Indian exporters could default on old contracts. The result is that lower grades of wheat from Asian origins, which until a couple of months ago were available at less than $120 a tonne C&F South East Asia, are now offered at $135, bringing them close to the price of British wheat now offered at $137. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 17th February '03 Sugar co-op mills in state to get Rs 350/tonne export subsidy The Center has earmarked Rs 50 Crore, out of the Sugar Development Fund (SDF), which it will give as $7 per tonne (Rs 350) as a sea freight subsidy for exports. Prakash Naiknavare, managing director, Federation of Co-operative Sugar Factories said this subsidy would be given as a flat rate to the millers and not to exporters. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 10th February '03 Exporters may get to lift grain at old prices CONCERNED at the dent in India's international image as a grain exporter' commerce minister Arun Shourie has asked food minister Sharad Yadav to allow companies with pending export contracts to lift grain at old prices. This would enable exporters to fulfil their commitments for eight lakh tonnes rice, some of which have already been delayed for more than three months due to the FCI's inability to move grain to port. The food ministry has made it clear that all pending contracts with FCI will be extended only if exporters are willing to pay the new price of Rs. 6,260 tones for rice. Consequently, contrary to industry expectations, all old release order held by exporters were cancelled by FCI on February 1. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 08th February '03 Poor Crop yield may push up veg oil imports Edible oil imports are likely to rise in the crop year to October, with winter oilseed production having fallen from a year earlier and a leading trade body lowering its estimate for summer output on Monday. The central Organization for Oil Industry and Trade forecast country's summer oilseed harvest in March and April at 7.4 tonnes, lower than its December estimate of 7.5m tonnes and '02 summer's output of 7.9m tonnes. India, which imports more than two-fifths of its edible oil needs, buys palm oil mainly from Malaysia and Indonesia and soya oil from Argentina and Brazil. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 04th February '03 Cotton prices rule firm Cotton lint prices maintained a firm trend during the first fortnight of the month, the month South India Cotton Association (SICA) said in its market report. Kappas arrivals were estimated to be more than 50% of the expected crop, with daily arrivals of around 12,000 bales. Lint prices were steady in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. Deshi Variety was quoted at Rs. 1,420 to Rs. 1,510 and J-34 saw ginned was quoted at Rs. 1,630/1,780 per maund spot. Shankar-6 was rulling at Rs. 18,700/19,300 per candy spot and prices continued to be very firm in Gujarat, it said. Prices were steady in MP, where H-4 was being quoted Rs. 17,900/18,500 and MCH at Rs. 18,200/19,600 per candy spot, the report said. Courtesy: The Economic Times,25th January '03 India seeks to differentiate between GM foods & crop The government has sought to differentiate between genetically modified (GM) crops and foods, saying at present India lacks facilities to test the latter making it vulnerable to harmful blends of edible items finding their way from abroad. "Sample standardization, protocol development, testing facilities, study of gene transfer in 'food' as differentiated from 'plant' material is requirement on a war footing to curb imports of biologically unsafe foods", the new director general, Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) Mangala Rai said. Soon after taking charge, Mr. Rai speaking in the backdrop of US corn soya blend being disallowed to enter India, said the national agriculture research system developed for testing GM plantation material will have to be replicated elsewhere if bio-safety of foods have to be ensured. Courtesy: The Economic Times,14th January '03 Revamp APMC Act To Curb Middleman Union agriculture minister Ajit Singh on Friday strongly pleaded for a change in the age-old agriculture produce and marketing act (APMC) and reduction in the intermediaries between the agri-produce and marketing. "The existing laws have immensely benefited the middleman rather than farmers for which it was framed, hence we should change the laws immediately," said Mr Singh while inaugurating a seminar here today on opportunities in Agri-Business" jointly organized by Maharastra government and Maharastra chamber of commerce and industry. The change will bring in the free market price mechanism and not only the farmers but even the processing units besides the consumers will be benefited, Mr Singh added. Courtesy: The Economic Times,11th January '03 Castor oil gains on soap cos' demand A modest increase in castor oil and its seeds marked the trading on the oils and oilseeds market from soap here today on good demand from soap manufacturers. Even castorseeds futures improved further on better export inquiries. Castor oil commercial firmed to Rs 390 from the last weekend levels of Rs 386. Castor seeds bold madras also shot up by Rs 20 to close at Rs 1,800 from the last close of Rs 1,780. Linseed oil continued to rule steady at the previous levels of Rs 480. Courtesy: The Economic Times,07th January '03 Big Mac helps out with farming Besides running a chain of restaurants with the help of Indian Businessmen, McDonald's India is also lending technical and agronomical support to the farmers engaged in potato production in Dessa and Kheda in Gujarat. Samar Gupta, MD of Trikaya Agriculture, Talegaon, engaged in growing a wide rage of European vegetables like iceberg lettuce, snow peas, sugar snap peace, red cabbage, baby corn, parsley, cherry tomatoes and many other varieties of vegetables, told ET that the setting up of a farm to grow these varieties could be possible with the help of better agricultural management practices and sharing of advanced agricultural technology with McDonald's. Courtesy: The Economic Times,30th December '02 Cane price hike not to hit top mills The top sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka will be able to easily pay farmers the new SMP for cane and yet make a profit as their low conversion costs and a buoyant boost bottomlines. "The government will only be encouraging inefficiency and sickness if it meets the sector's demand for tax relief. After all, only mills which have very high overheads, poor managerial efficiency, and accumulated interests costs for the last two years say they are facing a problem in giving the new SMP," industry watchers say. The co-operative sector in Maharashtra and public sector mills across the country, in particular, suffer from very high conversion costs due to high managerial overheads. Heavy harvesting and transportation charges and steep political overheads. Similarly, most small mills produce expensive sugar due to inefficiencies of scale. Courtesy: The Economic Times,27th December '02 Grain Stock falls 13% to 515 lt in Dec Not withstanding the ongoing paddy procurement, current foodstock position is at one of the lowest levels in this fiscal at 515.4 lakh tonne, a 12.8% decline from 591.1 lakh tonne in December last year, according to the latest food ministry data. Contrary to earlier perception, exports have not come to a standstill despite shortage of rail wagons, and though slower than the previous months, lifting of wheat and rice from Government godowns for shipment continues unabated. As on December 1, the rice stocks have fallen to 202.7 lakh tonne from 250.9 lakh tonne, a decline of 19.2% and wheat stocks have fallen 8.2% to 312.7 lakh tonne from 340.1 lakh tonne in the same period last year. Rice stocks have fallen even as the offtake in November under targeted public distribution system(PDS) is the lowest in any month this fiscal. Procurement notwithstanding, rice stocks have fallen marginally compared to 205.1 lakh tonne on November 1, 2002. Courtesy: The Economic Times,27th December '02 Sugar outputs may remain steady The country's sugar output this season is pegged to fall to 17m tonnes owing to drought, but there are indications that due to high cane recovery there might not be any significant decline at all. Varying trade estimates have put the output within a wide range of 17-18m tonnes against 18m tonnes last year. It indicates high production for the fifth consecutive year, having already broken sugar cycle of "two years of high output alternating with two years of low production". A technologist working with the National Federation of Co-operative sugar Factories said there has at least been a 0.2% rise in sugar recovery from cane in most mills which will make up for the fall in cane-output. Courtesy: The Economic Times,25th December '02 Edible oil imports up 21% in Nov, may hit new high Imports of edible oils in the country are expected to surge to a new all time high level of 50 lakh tonnes, if the substantially higher imports in November and expectation of lower rabi production are any indications. "Imports may cross 50 lakh tonnes, surpassing earlier high of 48.3 lakh tonnes in '00-01 oil year, if 21 % growth in November '02, the beginning of new season, is any indication," said a leading importer here. Edible oil imports last month have increased 20.8% to 3.3 lakh tonnes from 2.7 lakh tonnes in the corresponding month last year. Courtesy: The Economic Times,18th December '02 State fixes Rs 2,300 MSP for cotton The Maharashtra government on Thursday enhanced the cotton procurement price to Rs 2,300, amidst a walkout by the entire opposition in protest against the "inordinate" delay in the price hike. Marketing minister Harshwardhan Patil, summing up the discussion on cotton price, Monopoly Cotton Procurement Scheme and alleged suicides by farmers in Vidharbha, informed the lower house that the government would pay the difference to cotton growers in two installments, first in July'03 and second by Diwali the same year. Courtesy: The Economic Times,13th December '02 Govt. Plans Rs 500 cr. fund to help plantation sector In an innovative bid to support the plantation sector, the government has come out with a price stabilization scheme to be operated with a corpus of Rs 500 crore. The plan involves providing financial support to growers of coffee, tea, rubber and tobacco during ‘distress’ years when prices slump. At the same time, growers would deposit money in the ‘stabilization account’ during boom years when prices spurt. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 2nd December '02 Centre clears 8 agri export zones The Centre has given its nod for eight more agricultural export zones, spread over seven states and covering commodities like ginger, turmeric, vegetables and basmati rice, taking the number of AEZs to 40. The new zones are in Orrisa (for ginger and turmeric), Jharkhand (vegetables), Uttaranchal (basmati rice), West Bengal and Tamil Nadu (mangoes) MP (seed spices), Maharashtra (onions) and West Bengal (vegetables). Courtesy: The Economic Times, 2nd December '02 GM mustard delayed The 6.5bn euro Proagro seed company has cried foul over the government’s decision to defer clearance for cultivation of genetically modified (GM) mustard, saying commercial growth of these seeds is now not possible before ’04. “Deferring government’s clearance means even if the nod comes in the next meeting of the Genetically Engineered Approval Committee (GEAC) commercialization of GM mustard will be only in ’04 or beyond,’ Proagro managing director Clive J Pegg said. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 2nd December '02 VAT may empower states to tax textiles, sugar and tobacco The empowered committee on VAT (value added tax) has expressed confidence that states will get back the powers to impose additional excise duties on major items like textiles, sugar and tobacco and pitched for retention of local taxes after introduction of the new tax regime from April ’03. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 30th November '02 TN agri projects to get Rs 34 cr. from NABARD NABARD has sanctioned Rs 33.5 Crore for irrigation and rainwater harvesting projects in Tamil Nadu under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund. Of this, Rs 27.8 Crore would go to medium irrigation projects in Dharmapuri district and Rs 5.6 Crore for 182 rain water harvesting projects in Coimbatore, Dharmapuri, Namakkal, Thiruvallore and Theni districts. The medium irrigation project would be completed by March ’05 and rainwater harvesting project by March ’04. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 29th November '02 Agro Tech expo opens on Saturday Over 50 international exhibitions are all set to showcase their agri-technology prowess at CII’s world class business fair Agro Tech 2002, being organized from November 30- December 3, ’02 in Chandigarh. Spread over 32,000 sq. metres at two venues, the Agro Tech 2002 is India’s premier biennial agro technology fair as well as India’s largest agri and food show, and will serve as a platform to showcase the latest in agricultural technology, products, services to tap the tremendous potential of the Indian agricultural sector. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 29th November '02 Experts suggests linking sugar buffer stock to cane payment by mills The government should refrain from artificially propping up sugar prices as it can prove counter-productive resulting in cheaper imports of the commodity, a leading expert said. World Agriculture Forum’s India co-ordinator Madan Diwan also demanded that those mills which have defaulted in paying the Centre-fixed statutory minimum cane price to the farmers should not be provided the facility of buffer stock. Mills, which have not paid their tax dues, should also be blacklisted from buffer stock regime, he added. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 29th November '02 Spices Board ties up with foreign cos for brand promotion The Spices Board has tied up with two international consultants for launching and promoting Indian brands of spices and spice products in key markets aboard. Accenture will help the Board to develop strategy for promoting Indian spice brands in US market while KPMG would do similar work for the Japanese market. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 28th November '02 FCI receives 3.7 lt rice from Haryana Haryana food and supply department has so far delivered over 3.73 lakh tonnes of rice to the Food Corporation of India as against 2.60 lakh tonne of rice in the corresponding period last year. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 28th November '02 Govt. raises base import prices of palm oils The government raised base import prices of palm oils, used to calculate tariffs, which traders said would firm up domestic prices. But they said it would not impact the volume of the country’s imports, which totalled more than 4.4m tonnes in the year to the end of October, as the country was short of edible oils. Crude palm oil futures in Malaysia, the world’s biggest exporter, fell almost one percent on the news, although traders said the market had partly factored in India’s price hike. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 27th November '02 Centre to create 2-mt sugar buffer stock The government decided to create a sugar buffer stock of two million tonnes to help the ailing domestic industry clear payment arrears to the sugar-cane growers. The government will spend Rs 789 crore ($163.1m) to pay for the sugar lying in mills across the country and create a buffer stock. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 27th November '02 Sugarcane price row may hit wheat output: Ajit Singh Agriculture minister Ajit Singh has warned sugar mills that their “intransigence” over the issue of cane prices will not only discourage farmers from growing the crop but also affect wheat output, sowing for which is getting delayed this rabi season. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 25th November '02 New markets for India’s seafood’s The opening up of new markets in Europe and North America holds much promise for India’s seafood exports even as trade of live marine products to SouthEast Asia is expected to remain stable, experts said. According to the Marine Products Export Development Authority, India exports around 1,800- 2,000 tonnes of live marine products like spiny lobsters, mud-crabs, marine fin-fishes and shrimps every year. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 25th November '02 Rubber price seen remunerative The price of natural rubber would continue to be highly remunerative and market prospects for it were extremely robust, former rubber board commissioner, P Mukundan Menon, said. . He said, the overall trend in the price of Natural rubber was on the rise and much higher than the world market price. Consumption of natural rubber in ‘01-02 was 6.4 lakh tonne. In the current year up to August, consumption for ‘02-03 would be about 6.6 lakh tonne, he said. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 25th November '02 Govt. sees 50% shortfall in kharif output With severe drought conditions in several parts of the country, government estimates indicate that there could be as much as 50% shortfall in kharif production of different crops. As against the target of 69 lakh tonnes, the groundnut crop may be only to the tune of 38.9 lakh tonnes, castorseed 4.2 lakh tonnes against the target of nine lakh tonnes. Production of sesamum, nigerseed, and sunflower as well as soyabean are expected to be low, minister of state for agriculture told the Rajya Sabha. He said as in the case of cash crops, foodgrain production during ‘01-02 would also register a marginal shortfall at 211.32m tonnes as against the target 218m tonnes. Production during rabi season is also not expected to be any better as the impact of deficient rains in July will be felt on the summer crop as well. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 23rd November '02 Low price draws global buyers for lustre-lost wheat India’s lustre-lost wheat has emerged as one of the most sought after wheat in the world and state trading enterprises have got three new orders to export 1.2 lakh tonne of the commodity. “To keep the ex-granary price of lustre-lost wheat low is a sound decision as it facilitates quick disposal of stocks illustrated by three new orders for a total export of 1.2 lakh tonne at $91.8 per tonne free on board,” official sources said. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 19th November '02 Row over sugarcane prices in UP A tug-of-war is on between sugarcane growers, mill owners and the state government in Uttar Pradesh, which produces 47% of India’s sugarcane and, nearly 30% of the country’s sugar. The trouble began following the state government’s unprecedented decision not to enhance the official purchase price of the crop. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 18th November '02 India wants rubber out of WTO farm talks In the ongoing negotiations at the WTO, India is having second thoughts over its earlier proposal to classify rubber as an agricultural product and has decided not to pursue the matter ensuring that it goes into ‘deep freeze’. The official sources said the proposal to change the WTO classification was aimed at increasing the bound rate of rubber from the present 40%. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 16th November '02 Vegetable conference plans network The Bangalore Declaration of the International Conference on Vegetables (ICV), which concluded in Bangalore on Friday, recommended the setting up of a Vegetable Science International Network (Veginet) to promote vegetables as one of the most important dietary components to achieve food and nutritional security. Over 600 delegates from 36 countries supported the formation of Veginet to create “an awareness, understanding and co-operation amongst various developed and developing countries to come together and work towards making vegetables popular for sustainable food and nutritional development in the new millennium. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 16th November '02 Pepper down Prices of black pepper declined further on the spices market here on lack of buying interest coupled with good inflow from producing centres. Elsewhere, copra Office Alapuzha firmed up on moderate buying pressure. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 16th November '02 Sugar crisis: State calls cabinet meet to chalk out strategy The Union government is seriously considering a proposal for creating a buffer stock of 15 lakh tonnes of sugar at a time when the Maharashtra government has convened an urgent cabinet meeting to discuss the sugar industry crisis in the state and to provide some support or subsidy for bringing down the unprecedented high stocks. The Union government is understood to have decided to consider the revised proposal from the sugar industry for creating a buffer stock. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 15th November '02 Ministry opposes cut in palm oil rates Food ministry has opposed any move to cut WTO bound rate of palm oils, arguing higher ceiling gives greater flexibility to change actual duties in line with the international prices. Bound rate is the ceiling beyond which a member country cannot impose tariff on a commodity under WTO rules. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 15th November '02 Grain panel seeks ex-FCI price hike The high level committee on foodgrains has recommended hike in ex-FCI prices of foodgrains by Rs 250-350 per tonne with effect from January, 1,’03. The panel has recommended that the wheat price be hiked by Rs 250 per tonne to Rs 4,810 from Rs 4,560 per tonne for the old crop and by Rs 350 per tonne to Rs 4,950 per tonne for the new crop harvested this year. For rice, it has suggested a hike of Rs 250 per tonne for raw rice to Rs 6,160 per tonne from the present Rs 5,910 per tonne, official sources said, adding the recommendations is in line with the firmer trends in international prices and competitive demand for Indian foodgrains abroad. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 14th November '02 Centre may challenge HCs’ order on sugar The Centre is exploring legal options in the wake of the situation that has emerged after high courts permitted sugar mills to download additional sugar in the market over and above their monthly quotas. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 13th November '02 Winter oilseeds output set to fall The government lowered its ’02 winter oilseeds output estimate to 9.9m tonnes from 11.7m tonnes made in September after fresh information on area coverage and production details. India produced 13.2m tonnes of oilseeds in the same season of the previous year. The farm ministry said oilseeds production would fall due to an estimated drop in groundnut output to 3.9m tonnes from 5.6m tonnes. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 13th November '02 Oilseed output likely to fall 17% The recent severe drought has brought to the fore the question of how large the anticipated fall in agricultural output this year will be. This has become evident with industry releasing its estimate of kharif oilseeds crop pegging it at 97.2 lakh tonnes, 17 % lower than the government's official data released earlier which put it at 117 lakh tonnes. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 12th November '02 GM crop issue takes a new twist In a new twist to the controversy over approval of some genetically modified crops, several NGOs and farmers’ associations demanded that the Central Vigilance Commissioner investigate the workings of the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee. “We have appealed to the CVC to investigate the conduct and performance of India's scientific and regulator agencies, particularly the GEAC concerned with the approval of GM crops,” said the NGOs. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 12th November '02 Coffee sector loses Rs 3,000cr in 4 years The coffee industry in India has lost Rs 3,000 crore in the last four years as it received a hammering by the continued glut, according to an estimation by the United Planters Association of Southern India (Upasi). Chairperson of Upasi Coffee Committee said while India's export revenue from coffee was Rs 1,467 crore, it has come down to Rs 1,033 crore during ‘01-02. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 11th November '02 Farm panel looks beyond fixing minimum support price The Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices has envisaged a wider role for itself saying its functions should not be restricted to recommendation of the minimum support prices (MSPs) for agricultural crops alone. “The CACP should play a strategic role in suggesting policy changes in a holistic manner for the agricultural sector as a whole and not just be confined to make crop specific recommendations,” it said. It said the CACP should suggest reforms in taxes, subsidy, credit and marketing to promote market-led diversified agriculture in the wake of globalization and serve as think tank for the government. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 11th November '02 AP kharif paddy crop seen at all-time low Andhra Pradesh is projected to produce the lowest ever kharif paddy output in the last two to three decades, owing to severe drought conditions prevailing in the state. Paddy is the main component of foodgrains produced in the state, accounting for 60 to 70% of them. According to the latest estimates made by the government on the projected yields of foodgrains in the state, the paddy output for the current kharif season is likely to be in the range of 43 to 45 lakh tonnes only, as against the normal yield of 600 to 70 lakh tonnes. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 11th November '02 Govt. stops grain movement to ports The government has tightened the screws on grain exports by stopping all movement of wheat and rice to ports this month without prior notice. Stunned exporters, who have already paid Food Corporation of India for the cargoes, are now shelling out $5,000 a day demurrage while irate foreign buyer’s question India as a reliable supplier in the global market. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 7th November '02 Drought may hit mustard production India's production of rapeseed-mustard oilseeds may fall this year owing to persistent drought conditions in Rajasthan, a major producer of the commodity, leading to larger imports of edible oils in the country. Mustard accounts for more than 65% of India's oilseed production in the rabi season, Union agriculture minister Ajit Singh said on the sidelines of a conference on minimum support price for various crops. Rajasthan accounts for around 50% of India's mustard output and sowing this rabi season is likely to be lower, which will also affect the output, he added. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 7tH November '02 Cardamom prices firm up on lower crop estimate Spices Board and the agriculture directorate of Sikkim, the largest producer of cardamom, reckon that production this year will rise 12.5% to 5,851 tonnes. However, traders do not accept such a forecast and since they regulate the market, their speculation on a lower crop is firming up prices of cardamom, across the country. Traders in this spice estimate cardamom production this year to be lower by 5-10% due to adverse weather in some parts of Sikkim in July-August. With traders speculating on such a lower crop production, prices of large cardamom have shot up 3-5% over the previous month and 10-15% over the same month last year. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 5th November '02 State co-op buys 48,000/q cotton Maharashtra State Co-operative Cotton Marketing Corporation has so far purchased 48,077 quintal cotton in Jalgoan division in this season, according to corporation's Jalgoan manager, Madhukar Pisal. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 1st November '02
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