The Hindu Business Line : Saturday, December 16, 2006

COMMODITY EXCHANGES
NCDEX begins spot exchange mock trading
NCDEX has started mock trading on the electronic spot exchanges to be launched in Rajasthan and West Bengal by second half of January. "We are witnessing good participation from traders on the mock trading platform. Till now there are no major ... More

WHEAT
Row over handling of wheat at Kakinada
Concern over diversion of cargoes from old anchorage to new port More

Govt move may keep wheat prices under control
Duty-free imports extended till Feb 28 More

CULTIVATION
Wheat acreage rises by 22 lakh hectares
Area under maize, rice & barley increases More

Lower coverage
SWITCHOVER: Groundnut being packed at a shop in Kochi. Area under oilseeds during the current rabi season has declined to 87.60 lakh hectares from 95.09 lakh hectares last year. Farmers have switched over to crops such as wheat, chana and pulses ... More

COMMODITIES
Dip in food, energy prices keeps inflation on leash
Wholesale Price Index of all commodities down to 207.8 More

HORTICULTURE/FRUITS & VEGETABLES
Farmers take a `Fresh' look at retailing
Twenty-five-year-old Mr Rami Reddy, whose joint family owns 20 acres in Lakshmareddy Gudem, a small village in Rangareddy district near Hyderabad, has been growing brinjals in one or two acres for the last eight years. But he never saw a price ... More

PLANTATIONS
Traditional bungee
A WORKER MOVES from one arecanut tree to another in the traditional way of harvesting in a farm near Vaduvanchal in Kerala's Wayanad district. Widespread disease in arecanut gardens, poor domestic demand, uninterrupted imports from Indonesia and ... More

RUBBER
Sheet rubber tops Rs 90/kg
Domestic spot rubber prices recovered sharply on Friday even against bearish global reports. Covering groups set the market on fire offering higher quotes and sheet rubber hit Rs 90 against Rs 86 and Rs 85.50 a kg respectively at Kottayam and ... More

SUGAR
UP hikes cane support price
The Uttar Pradesh Government has declared a modest Rs 10 per quintal increase in the State Advised Price (SAP) for sugarcane during the ongoing 2006-07 crushing season (October-September). Sugar mills would have to pay Rs 125 per quintal for ... More

Simbhaoli commissions new unit
Simbhaoli Sugars Ltd has commissioned its new mill at Brijnathpur (Ghaziabad district, Uttar Pradesh). The mill, set up at a cost of around Rs 127 crore, has a capacity to crush 4,000 tonnes of cane daily (tcd), which is ... More

OILSEEDS & EDIBLE OIL
Edible oil imports dip in Nov
Edible oil imports dipped by 23 per cent in November 2006 to 2.5 lakh tonnes from 3.2 lakh tonnes year-on-year, according to data released by the Solvent Extractors' Association of India. Out of the total oil imports refined oil ... More

CASHEW
Call for tech transfer in cashew
An effective system of transfer of technology needs to be perfected in reasonable span of time if only to improve cashew productivity in the country. According to Mr C.K. Nair, Principal Scientist with the Cashew Export Promotion Council ... More

COFFEE
Panel: Cut import duty on coffee vending machine
To boost domestic consumption of coffee More

SPICES & CONDIMENTS
Pepper futures increase on buying support
Those who were holding short positions were covering back while no fresh sellers were forthcoming. Physical pepper was not available. Exporters who were looking to cover from futures market are now finding it difficult to cover as the futures ... More

COMMODITY MARKETS
Wheat, turmeric futures slip
The expiry of December futures contract on commodity exchanges dragged down the prices of wheat, turmeric and cardamom on Friday. Wheat futures for December delivery on NCDEX fell 3.9 per cent to Rs 1,006 a quintal as traders felt prices may fall ... More

TRENDS
Work on plantation valley
The second-stage development of the plantation valley, set up by the Plantation Corporation of Kerala (PCK) Ltd to promote farm tourism, will be inaugurated by the Agricultural Minister, Mr Mullackal Rathnakaran, on December 24. ... More