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Our Bureau

New Delhi, Nov. 6 The Union Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, on Thursday ruled out any immediate move to re-introduce or raise import duties on edible oils.

Speaking on the sidelines of an international conference on “Wheat Stem Rust Ug99: A Threat to Food Security” here, the Minister said the domestic prices of oilseeds were still ruling above the minimum support price (MSP) levels and, therefore, there was no case for taking any early decision on import duties.

Since April 1 this year, the basic customs duty on crude oils (palm, de-gummed soybean and sunflower) has been set at nil, with refined oils attracting a 7.5 per cent rate.

Currently, yellow soyabean is selling in the Indore market at Rs 1,625-1,630 a quintal. Excluding mandi expenses and other levies (including gunny costs), farmers are receiving a price of Rs 1,530-1,550 a quintal, which is above the MSP of Rs 1,390 a quintal for the current year.

The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) had, in its meeting earlier this week, deferred a decision on re-clamping/hiking tariffs on imported edible oils.

It also decided to continue with the current ban on export of all non-basmati rice.

Mr Pawar said that the EGoM will meet again probably in another three weeks to review the situation again and take a call then. He added that the Government was keeping a close watch on non-basmati rice prices, which had firmed up over the last couple of weeks.

“For some of the States where prices have gone up, we might release additional quantities. We might enter the open market also to release a limited quantity,” he stated.

The Government will also announce the MSP for the current year’s wheat crop, with the issue coming up before the Cabinet in the next 15 days, Mr Pawar said.

The Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP) has recommended an MSP of Rs 1,080 a quintal for 2008-09, against the Rs 1,000 a quintal price for last year’s crop.

Earlier, addressing the conference, the Minister informed that Indian scientists had screened 442 wheat materials against Ug99 — a potent race of the dreaded stem rust originally detected in 1999 in Uganda that has since crossed the Red Sea and even Iran.

In the current year, out of the 318 Indian wheat materials tested so far, 78 have been found resistant to the disease. The seeds of resistant varieties already released are being multiplied. In 2007-08, nearly 450 tonnes of breeder seed of 11 such varieties has been produced for further multiplication this year, Mr Pawar said.

More Stories on : Oilseeds & Edible Oil | Excise and Customs

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