The Hindu Business Line : `Rise in import of farm produce negligible'

The figures
Out of total exports, agricultural exports account for 9 per cent, while out of total imports, agricultural produce account for 3 per cent only.
In the case of edible oil and pulses, they constitute close to 75 per cent of total agricultural imports.

New Delhi , Dec. 13

The content of agricultural produce in total imports has not been increasing and imports of farm produce were designed to bridge the supply inadequacies experienced, like in the case of edible oil and pulses.

Responding to a spate of supplementaries on the main question raised during Question Hour by the BSP member in the Lok Sabha, Mr Brajesh Pathak, the Minister of State for Commerce, Mr Jairam Ramesh, reeled out statistics to dispute the contention that agricultural produce import has been increasing. He said that out of total exports, agricultural exports account for 9 per cent, while out of total imports, agricultural produce account for 3 per cent only.

Mr Ramesh told the Congress member, Mr Samba Siva Rao, that in the case of edible oil and pulses, domestic consumption has escalated while domestic production of oilseeds and pulses had been stagnant for a number of years, necessitating import of these items.

agricultural imports

He said in the case of edible oil and pulses, they constitute close to 75 per cent of total agricultural imports. The country produced 8 million tonnes (mt) of edible oil and imported 4 mt, while in the case of pulses the domestic production was 13 mt and imports amounted to 2 mt.

He said that the country also imports raw cashew of 0.5 mt but exports 0.5 mt of cashew nuts after due value addition and in the case of import of pepper from Vietnam, the country imports low-grade pepper but extracts oil and re-export oleoresin. Cotton imports constitute just 2 per cent of the total cotton production, while in the case of silk, the domestic production is 18,000 tonnes, while import is 8,000 tonnes.

The Minister said that prices of sensitive agricultural items numbering more than 200 have been monitored on a quarterly basis so that any imported agricultural items do not exact disproportionate rise in domestic prices.

When members said that apples from New Zealand and Australia were being imported, Mr Ramesh said that as a result of this import, domestic apple producers have also got a better price in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

Wheat import

To a specific question on wheat import of 5.5 mt contracted by the country, Mr Ramesh he said that wheat import had been resorted primarily because of the failure of the procurement machinery in wheat-producing States. He refuted the allegation that imported wheat price was higher than what was offered to the domestic wheat growers, stating that the minimum support price and procurement price for wheat was increasing over the years consistently and being announced ahead of the season to help growers.

He said the import of wheat is to build up stocks so that the programme of public distribution was not affected due to poor procurement.