Pawar rules out wheat imports

There is no shortage of the grain, says the minister

Undeterred by reports of rising wheat prices, Sharad Pawar, the union minister for agriculture on Tuesday said that the government does not believe that there is a shortage of the grain and is not planning to import it.

"As I monitor the wheat prices on a regular basis, I don't think that they have gone up," said Pawar.

Ruling out import of wheat, the minister for agriculture, public distribution and consumer affairs, said, "As there are no concerns on the price front, I don't see any reason for importing wheat."

In the last two days, wheat mill delivery prices in Jaipur have gone up by over Rs 30 per 100 kg.

On Tuesday, the prices were in between Rs 930 and Rs 935 for 100 kg. And if traders are to be believed, then prices are expected to go up by over Rs 10-20 per 100 kg in the next few days.

On sugar, the farm minister said that the country's sugar production in the 2005-06 season is expected to be around 18 million tonne.

From the 20-million tonne levels in the sugar year 2002-03 (October-September), India's production had slipped to 12.7 million tonne in 2003-04, but risen to 13.4 million tonne in 2004-05.

Pawar was on a two-day visit to the city. Earlier in the day, the agriculture minister met the Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje and in an hour-long meeting with her, discussed issues relating to agriculture and mustard said official sources.

Rajasthan is the largest mustard-producer in the country and contributes roughly 40 per cent to the country's production.

The desert state expects a record production of over 4 million tonne mustard this crop season and there are concerns over the procurement and storage of the new crop that is slated to arrive in various mandis by March-end.

The state government is believed to have requested Pawar to empty the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (Nafed) godowns for the ensuing mustard crop.

The chief minister is understood to have told Pawar that over 1.25 million tonne mustard is presently stocked by Nafed in various godowns of Rajasthan, which if not emptied before the arrival of the new crop, would become a big problem.