The Hindu Business Line : Wheat output likely at 73.5 mt, says Pawar

Highlights
Govt to wait for the report of the Committee (under Prof. Abhijit Sen) to go into the impact of futures trading on inflation
FCI hopes to procure 13 mt wheat during coming rabi marketing season.
Wheat output seen up on good weather

FOSTERING TIES: The Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar (second right), with (from left) the Swaziland Minister for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Mr Mtiti Fakudze; the Southern Sudan Minister for Agriculture and Forestry, Dr Martin Elia Lomuro; the FICCI President, Mr Habil Khorakiwala; and the Mauritius Minister for Agriculture, Dr Arvin Boolell, at the India-Africa Agrifood Summit, in the Capital on Wednesday. — Ramesh Sharma

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New Delhi March 7 The `suspension' of futures trading in wheat has been done not in order to facilitate the Food Corporation of India's (FCI) public procurement operations, but only after the recommendations of a Parliamentary Standing Committee.

Stating this at a `Workshop on Wheat Management - Rabi 2007', organised by the Roller Flour Millers Federation of India and the Wheat Products Promotion Society here on Wednesday, the Secretary, Department of Food and Public Distribution, Mr T. Nanda Kumar, emphasised that no ban has been imposed on futures trading in wheat.

Instead, there has only been a `suspension' or a stop in launch of any new contracts after August 2007.

"We have taken a fair call. We will now wait for the report of the Committee (under Prof. Abhijit Sen) to go into the impact of futures trading on inflation," he said, adding that the demand for banning futures trading in wheat had come from even some millers in their private capacity.

The Chairman and Managing Director of FCI, Mr Alok Sinha, said that the corporation is likely to procure around 13 million tonnes (mt) of wheat during the coming rabi marketing season from April 1. As on April 1, total wheat stocks in the Central pool are expected at 4.5 mt, which will rise to 17.5 mt by May 1, he added.

Meanwhile, at a separate India-Africa Agrifood Summit, organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Union Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, said that the country's wheat production this year might be about one mt more than the initially projected 72.5 mt.

The reason for this, he said, was the "extremely good weather conditions", particularly after the February rains, leading to a drop in temperatures.

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