The Hindu Business Line : Friday, March 16, 2007

INSIGHT
Wheat: Sowing trouble
Mandarins in New Delhi seem never willing to learn. Food-price-related inflation is going through the roof. The poor are groaning, never mind if more Indians have entered the Forbes list of billionaires. Last week, the Empowered Group of ... More

FLORICULTURE
Making progress
TAPPING POTENTIAL: Harvesting of flowers in progress at a farm near Kochi. The Kerala cut flower sector has begun to make rapid progress as Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) has realised the country's ... More

HORTICULTURE/FRUITS & VEGETABLES
Tech sought for tissue culture labs in Bengal
The State identifies 100 acres for floriculture parks in two areas More

PLANTATIONS
First shipment of arecanut lands after canalisation
Barely a month after the Directorate-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) issued a notification allowing arecanut to be imported only through the New Mangalore port, the first consignment of four containers of arecanut has landed in Mangalore. Port ... More

RUBBER
Spot rubber prices improve
Spot rubber improved in tune with international indices. The day's trend was set by Japanese futures, which managed to finish marginally in green followed by Yen's decline against dollar and a bullish mood in gold and oil futures RSS 4 moved up ... More

AGRICULTURAL INSTITUTIONS
Icrisat mulls pacts to form `sweet sorghum for ethanol' consortia
ICRISAT (International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics), in association with the Hyderabad-based Rusni Distilleries, is contemplating agreements with private companies in Africa to form `sweet sorghum for ethanol' consortia in ... More

TOBACCO
Tobacco growers to seek FDI
Delegation to meet Manmohan, voice demands More

SPICES & CONDIMENTS
Pepper futures rebound
Overseas buyers appear to be turning here More

Buying support keeps cardamom steady
Cardamom prices continued to rule steady with the average prices remaining above Rs 300 a kg for the last two months, at the auctions held in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. North Indian buyers were active, while the exporters were seen buying albeit ... More

Volatility in pepper futures: Demand for FMC intervention
Wide fluctuations taking place in the pepper futures market of late and certain other practices have led to demand for intervention by the Forward Markets Commission (FMC). The fluctuations at the national level exchanges over the past several ... More

AGRICULTURAL POLICY
Farm policies of developing countries flayed
Says it is the least efficient and most distorting ways of providing assistance More

WTO
Agri Ministry identifies 80 products for lower tariff cut
Commerce Ministry wants list pruned drastically More

Pulses not covered in Special Products list
The list of `Special Products' identified by the Agriculture Ministry for special tariff treatment as part of the World Trade Organisation's current Doha Round negotiations include all cereals: rice, wheat, maize, sorghum (jowar) and millet ... More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS
Edible oil imports decline to 9-year low in February
Cottonseed, rapeseed help maintain supply More