Pawar non-committal on maize futures ban

Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar remained non-committal on the ban over maize futures, telling the Lok Sabha that the government would "look at all aspects of the matter".

The issue was raised during the question hour by Congress MP from Andhra Pradesh K S Rao, who wanted to know whether the government was contemplating banning maize futures in line with wheat and rice.

Pawar in his reply said the government had been getting "contradictory signals" on the matter. "The bird feed manufacturers and starch manufacturers are demanding that maize futures be banned, but farmers growing the crop are opposed to it," he told the Lok Sabha. "The government is studying the issue," he added.

Last Wednesday, Pawar had categorically ruled out any such move. "Maize is not for human consumption. Let farmers also get a better price," Pawar had said on Wednesday on the sidelines of a seminar.

The National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC), the all-India poultry farmers' body, had earlier expressed disappointment over the Centre's inaction on the demand from the NECC for removing maize from the list of items permitted under forward trading.

In a statement released to the press, NECC National Chairperson Anuradha Desai said Finance Minister P Chidambaram, while presenting the Budget for 2007-08, had announced a ban on forward trading in wheat and rice.

"All the reasons and issues considered by the Union government for banning forward trading in wheat and rice equally applied to maize also, as the forward trading of maize had led to unprecedented rise in the price, affecting poor poultry farmers across the country," she had said in the statement. Maize can now be imported duty-free.

This follows pressure from the livestock industry, which lobbied with the government to ban the export of maize and remove duties on imports.

Imports were governed by a tariff rate quota (TRQ) regime, under which up to 5 lakh tonne could be imported at 15 per cent basic customs duty, with quantities above this charged at 50 per cent duty. This was removed recently. Export of maize was canalised through four agencies last week.

All this has proved unprofitable for maize farmers, but has helped the poultry and egg industry hold the price line. It is the political pressure that the two sections represent that has made Pawar non-committal on the issue of a ban on futures trading.