Agri stocks in demand; spurt up to 20%

Aries Agro's scrip gains as much as 19.6%, Jain Irrigation by 2.63%

Shares of companies related to the agriculture sector shot up by up to 20% today after the Finance Minister announced that agriculture credit is seen surpassing the earlier estimates for the current fiscal.

Aries Agro's scrip shot-up by 19.6%, while Jain Irrigation Systems rose by 2.63% on the BSE.

Shares of Monsanto India climbed 2.59% and that of Advanta went up by 0.51%.

Agriculture credit is likely to exceed the target of Rs 7,00,000 crore, while farm exports are expected to increase to over $45 billion in the current fiscal, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said today.

"We are proud of stellar performance of agriculture. ...Agriculture credit is likely to touch Rs 7,35,000 crore, exceeding the target of Rs 7,00,000 crore," he said while presenting the interim Budget for 2014-15 fiscal.

Chidambaram also stated that agricultural exports are likely to cross $45 billion this fiscal, as against $41 billion in 2012-13.

Chidambaram attributed the likely increase in farm growth this fiscal to estimated bumper production in various crops.