The Hindu Business Line : Friday, April 04, 2008

CLIMATE & WEATHER
Hailstorm threat to standing wheat crop
Thiruvananthpauram, April 3 The churn in weather in north and northwest India has tossed up the threat of hailstorm to standing rabi crop, especially wheat, which has entered the harvesting stage. As of now, hailstorm is the only ... More

INSIGHT
System of Rice Intensification — Optimising production with fewer inputs
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Volumes may migrate to offshore markets
Higher incidence of CTT More

RUBBER
Spot rubber prices improve
Kottayam, April 3 The domestic rubber prices improved on Thursday. Supply concerns kept the market bullish as covering groups turned extremely aggressive to procure the sparse arrivals. Sheet rubber flared up to Rs 105.50 and Rs 106 a kg ... More

TEA
Tea exports to traditional markets fall
Tea shipments fell in all the traditional markets even as no new major foothold was gained in any market in calendar 2007, an analysis of the latest information available with the Tea Board shows. The country’s exports fell to ... More

Drop in volumes at Kochi tea auction
Kochi, April 3 Arrivals of both dust and leaf teas fell at the Kochi tea auction. Only 8,82,000 kg of dust tea and 2,35,000 kg of leaf tea were available for the auction. Best liquoring and popular CTC dust varieties were dearer by Re 1-Rs 2, ... More

WATER
Greening India
Only 1.5 per cent of the total irrigated area in India is under micro-irrigation; “lousy delivery mechanism”, and not lack of funds, is the reason. More

DAIRY & DAIRY PRODUCTS
Assam hands over management of dairy activities to NDDB
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FOODGRAINS
COMMODITY COMMENTARY
Why blame bio-fuels for higher food prices
Govt must work towards achieving real self-sufficiency More

AGRICULTURAL INSTITUTIONS
Nabard to pool small farmers’ holdings
MAKING BIG More

OILSEEDS & EDIBLE OIL
Sharp correction likely in vegetable oil prices
‘Splash and dash’ scam could end the bull run More

SPICES & CONDIMENTS
Chilli futures up on demand, short supply
Mumbai, April 3 Fear of imminent ban on essential commodity futures, especially in edible oil and potato, continued to mar trading in the national exchange on Thursday.The turnover on MCX fell 20 per cent to Rs 3,684 crore against Rs ... More

Pepper futures rise amidst volatility
Kochi, April 3 Pepper futures market witnessed high volatility on Thursday and at close the prices moved up.Indian parity on Thursday was at $3,950 a tonne (c&f) while all other origins ruled steady at previous levels. MG 1, thus, ... More

AGRICULTURAL POLICY
Farm cost panel’s cane price formula leaves industry bitter
Chennai, April 3 The sugar industry is non-plussed over the Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) recommending a steep hike in the support price for sugarcane for 2008-09 after the price was formally announced last month. ... More