4 bodies merge to promote seed sector

News Digest

To promote the interests of the domestic seed industry with concerted efforts, four seed associations of the country have merged to form an apex body "� the National Seed Association of India (NSAI).

Before the merger, the associations "� Indian Seed Industry Association, Seed Association of India, Association of Seed Industry and All India Crop Biotechnology Association "� used to represent the seed industry as parallel organisations.

The seed industry had, in the past, been represented by a number of associations and, therefore, lacked strength and cohesion, Satish L Kagliwal, president, NSAI, said.

In a bid to deal with issues at the state level, the new association will have branch offices in all the major seed-producing states such as Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

The domestic seed industry, though still nascent, accounted for nearly 70 per cent of seeds in the country, and it needed a direction from this juncture, he said.

The country had the potential to become a quality seed provider at the international level and could also emerge as a hub for research and development in the sector, Kagliwal said.

The seed industry's turnover is estimated at about 5,000 crore this year.

32 lakh tonne wheat arrived so far: Minister

Nearly 32 lakh tonne of the 55 lakh tonne of wheat being imported by the country this year have arrived at the country's western ports so far, the Lok Sabha was informed today. "So far, 32 lakh tonne of wheat have arrived," Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs Akhilesh Prasad Singh said in a written reply.

He said an operational plan has been put in place to accelerate evacuation and movement of the imported consignments from the ports.

It has also been stipulated for the importers to declare the particulars of imported wheat received by them within seven days from the date of receipt of stock.

On allocation of wheat under Public Distribution System, Singh said the allocation has been rationalised in view of decline in wheat stocks in the recent past.

The Food Ministry released additional one lakh tonne of wheat each for the Above Poverty Line families during the months of September, October and November this year.Total wheat allocation to PDS system till September stood at 91.22 lakh tonne.

The Minimum Support Price for wheat has been fixed at Rs 750 per quintal for the Rabi marketing season of 2007-08.

The minister also informed that sugar allocation for PDS during October 2005 to September 2006 stood at 19.83 lakh tonne.Rice and coarse grains allocation stood at 2.15 crore tonne and 2.21 lakh tonne respectively during the first six months of the current fiscal.

Malaysian palm oil export rises

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for November 1-25 fell 7.4 per cent to 1,091,585 tonne from 1,178,379 tonne shipped between October 1 and 25, cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance said on Monday. SGS said the estimate comprised 971,143 tonne of palm oils and 120,442 tonne of oleochemicals and lauric oils.

In the palm oils category, 81,235 tonne were made up of refined, bleached and deodorised (RBD) palm oil, 419,898 tonne of RBD palm olein, 112,837 tonnes of RBD palm stearin and 199,075 tonnes of crude palm oil.

China was again the biggest buyer of Malaysian oil palm products for Nov 1-25, taking 285,791 tonnes, followed by the United States with 71,151 tonne and Japan with 52,209 tonne. European Union countries, another major destination, bought a total 284,392 tonne.

Index on non -GM crops launched

Diapason Commodities Management launched on Monday the first agricultural commodity index based only on non-genetically modified crops.

The index is based on contracts traded on Euronext and the Tokyo Grain Exchange and does not include any components from the world's leading agricultural futures exchange, the Chicago Board of Trade.

Diapason said the index, published in dollars, was designed to offer a benchmark for non-GMO investments in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries.

The initial composition of the index is Tokyo Grain Exchange non-GMO soybeans (42.10 percent), Euronext rapeseed (20.45 percent), Euronext milling wheat (16.85 percent), Euronext feed wheat (11.61 percent) and Euronext corn (8.99 percent). Earlier this year, Diapason launched the first-ever biofuels index.