Govt announces MSP for paddy

With procurement of paddy in the Kharif marketing season 2006-07 in Haryana, Kerala and Punjab in progress, the government has announced that procurement of paddy would be on minimum support price of Rs 580 per quintal for common variety and Rs 610 per quintal for grade A with an additional incentive bonus of Rs.40 per quintal.

Secretary, Department of Food and Public Public Distribution T Nanda Kumar said 270 lakh tonne of paddy is expected to be collected in the season, an official release said here on Friday.

As part of this move, ing up control rooms in the capital. Similarly, the state government and regional offices of the Food Cooperation of India will also be setting up control rooms for monitoring procurement operations and investigating complaints of distress sale by farmers in the procuring states, Kumar said.

Delhi to allow bigger role for pvt sector

The Delhi government is all set to amend existing laws to enable greater participation of the private sector in agricultural marketing.

The government will introduce a bill to amend the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act, in the next session of the state assembly.

"We are in the process of amending the legislation on marketing of agricultural produce. I hope it will be ready by next session," state Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said.

She was speaking on the sidelines of the foundation stone laying ceremony of HRD Complex of National Horticultural Board at Nangloi here.

Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, who was also present on the occasion, said some 18-19 states have amended their respective APMC Act with an aim to provide better marketing access to farmers.

Pawar said the Delhi government had intimated him about its decision to amend the APMC Act.The chief minister raised concern about post harvesting loss to the tune of 30 per cent of total horticultural produce and stressed on developing infrastructural facilities like refrigeration to mitigate such loss.

Oct urad futures fall on arrivals from UP

October urad or black matpe futures tumbled on Friday, twice hitting 4 per cent lower circuit-break on National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange due to arrivals from Uttar Pradesh, analysts and traders said.

Tur or pigeon pea also fell sharply on weak demand. Chana or chick pea, however, rose on shortage and continued strong demand due to festivals. "Since Friday, prices of pulses started falling on profit sales and good arrivals of urad desi in Maharashtra, Gujarat, and southern states," said an analyst.

Subsequently, urad hit 4 per cent lower circuit on surprise arrivals from Uttar Pradesh. There was also arrivals from Indore (Madhya Pradesh), and Akola (Maharashtra).

"UP was never a traditional urad seller state. However, huge sales from UP to other states may touch 100,000 tn this year. This has pulled down prices," said Kishore Narne, chief analyst, Anand Rathi Commodities.

However, urad recovered slightly later, only to hit 4 per cent lower circuit-break the second time before close.

Urad dispatches from UP rose on expectations of 220,000 tonne karif crop in the year ending September, compared with 211,000 tonne last year, Additional Director of Agriculture Raghuveer Prasad said.

Agri research to get high priority: Pawar

The central government has said the current national farm research system needs to be strengthened to meet the challenges for raising food output due to the ever-increasing population growth.

The thrust to agricultural research and development would continue in the 11th Plan, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said inaugurating a global conference on 'Recent Scientific Developments in Agricultural Bio-technology: Sharing Experiences and Knowledge' in Mumbai.

The event was organised by International Life Sciences Institute-India, and ILSI-International Food Biotechnology Committee .

The National Agricultural Research System needs to be strengthened to meet the existing challenges of food production, the minister said.