Mustard seed output, estimated at over 7 million tonne, have been affected by unseasonal rains, experts said on Monday. The impact, however, was slightly contained as harvest was almost over before the rains lashed across large parts of the country last week. | |
| About 1,00,000-1,50,000 tonne of mustard seed have been damaged due to recent rains, Sandeep Bajoria, president, Central Organisation of Oil Industry and Trade, said. |
| |
| India's total mustard seed output is now seen at 6.7 million tone compared with 6.4 million tonne last year. Mustard seed is the largest oilseed crop in the country during the winter or rabi season. |
| |
| "We believe the damage could have been more devastating. But 70-80 per cent harvest has already been harvested," he said. |
| |
| The total rabi oilseed production this season is seen at 10.27 million tonne compared with 9.8 million tonne last year. |
| |
| Winter oilseeds are sown around October-November and harvested in March-April, while summer oilseeds or kharif crops are sown in June-July and harvested in October-November. |
| |
| "About 70-80 per cent of the crop was either harvested or had arrived in the markets. The rest had been stored in warehouses. A certain amount of the stored mustard seeds have, however, been damaged," Jyoti Kanda, president, North Rajasthan Oil Millers and Traders Association, said. |
| |
| Rajasthan, the largest producer of mustard in India, contributes 40 per cent to the total output. Alwar, Bharatpur, Jaipur, Kota, and Sriganganagar are the main rapeseed producing centres in the state. The state is likely to produce 3.5 million tonne of the oilseed compared with 3.2 million tonne last year, he said. |
| |
| If the rains continue, the quality too will be affected as moisture has an adverse impact on the oil content of mustard seed, said B V Mehta, executive director, Solvent Extractors Association. |
| |
| The edible oil industry is also upset with the government and its nodal procurement agency - the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India - as they have not been able to sell a large quantity of mustard stocks procured last year. |
| |
| Though farmers are happy that Nafed will start procuring the crop at the minimum support price of Rs 1,715 per 100 kg, the industry is worried that existing stocks with the federation will be of poor quality as they have been lying in warehouses for long. |
| |
| "Nafed should have sold 3,00,000-4,00,000 tonne of mustard every month. With time, moisture accumulation has an adverse impact on the oil content of the stored mustard seeds," Bajoria said. |
| |
| Nafed had procured about 2.09 million tonne of mustard last year and plans to buy about 3 million tonne of the oilseed this year. It tried selling its stocks by offering tenders to private millers and crushers. The procurement agency had also floated global tenders to offload its stocks. The tenders, however, did not generate much response. |
| |
| The state-run agency failed to clear the entire stock, as it did not sell below the minimum support price of the oilseed. |
| |
| "We cannot go for distress selling," Alok Ranjan, managing director, Nafed, had said. |
| |
| The prices at which Nafed intended to clear its stocks was not acceptable to buyers because the market price was much lower at Rs 1,400-1,500 per 100 kg. |
| |
| Apart from 1.4-1.5 million tonne mustard with Nafed, an additional stock of about 3,00,000 tonne is lying with private millers as well. |
| |
|
| |
