The Hindu Business Line : Friday, February 16, 2007

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AGRI-BIZ & COMMODITIES

PULSES
Chana drops as investors keep off from long positions
After gaining Rs 60 per quintal in the last two days on the NCDEX, chana futures on Thursday dropped 1.03 per cent to Rs 2,111 per quintal. "Investors have shied away from taking long positions in chana futures ever since the Government banned ... More

HORTICULTURE/FRUITS & VEGETABLES
Apple prices shoot up on output slide
Last year, a box of 20 kg apples in Chennai wholesale market cost Rs 925. Today, it rules between Rs 1,600 and Rs 1,700. Not surprisingly, its rise in the wholesale price index (WPI) between January 6 last year and January 27 this year has been ... More

INFRASTRUCTURE
TN plans 3 mega agri terminal markets
Move forms part of Rs 2,500-cr integrated improvement project More

RUBBER
Spot rubber declines on panic selling
Heavy declines in trend setting Japanese markets hammered domestic rubber prices on Thursday. According to reports, TOCOM hit the lower circuit in its five out of six contracts on speculative selling and bull liquidation mainly following an ... More

TEA
Kanan Devan seeks Commerce Ministry approval for taking over Ram Bahadur Thakur estates
The Rs 105 crore Kanan Devan Hills Plantation Company has sent a proposal to the Union Commerce Minister, Mr Jairam Ramesh, for taking over 9,000-acre tea plantations under nine estates from the Ram Bahadur Thakur (RBT) group in ... More

COTTON
Toxic studies to be done on Bt cotton
The National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) has agreed to conduct a study to see whether the death of over 1,500 sheep in Andhra Pradesh was due to the consumption of Bt cotton plant material. Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, Mr ... More

SILK
Silk-reeling cluster launched
About 1,000 people from Sujapur village of Kaliachak-I block of Malda gathered at Saranpara on Thursday for the launching ceremony of a silk-reeling and twisting `cluster'. The occasion was the launching of NABARD's Cluster ... More

COCONUT & COPRA
Shifting trend
BEHIND PRICE FALL: A worker drying copra at a farm near Kalpetta in Kerala's Wayanad district. Copra prices are ruling around the minimum support level of Rs 3,400 a quintal. The rates are Rs 150 lower from the beginning of the year. Fall in ... More

COFFEE
Coffee in cooking
Wanna try bhelpuri with a tinge of coffee and dates? Or chicken curry with a dash of coffee? Then the India International Coffee Festival (IICF) 2007 being held in Bangalore from February 23-25 is the place to be. Unlike in the past, coffee ... More

SPICES & CONDIMENTS
Cardamom prices rule steady
Marginal fluctuations at auctions held in Kerala, Tamil Nadu on buying support More

Price fall: Turmeric farmers told to cut crop area
The Tamilnadu Agricultural University's (TNAU) Domestic and Export Market Intelligence Cell (DEMIC) has found the five-year price cycle of turmeric, an important cash crop in the region, hitting the trough this year. It has cautioned the ... More

Bullish trend pushes up pepper futures
There has been no activity in the global market as all the players are waiting for the prices to drop after the Vietnam market reopens. More

COMMODITY MARKETS
Exporters stop booking arabica contracts
Growers look for higher prices, hold back produce More

INTERVIEW
Give farmers a separate bank
All those who contribute to the public distribution system should be given a smart card that will entitle them to nutrients, micro nutrients and seeds at a concessional price. PROF. M.S. SWAMINATHAN, CHAIRMAN OF THE NATIONAL COMMIS SION ON AGRICULTURE, FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY. More