Poor monsoon likely to hurt India oilseed, cotton output, says NCML

Production of oilseeds and cotton in India will probably drop this year as deficient monsoon rains in main growing areas have hit plantings, according to Siraj Chaudhry, managing director and chief executive officer of National Commodities Management Services Ltd.

“We started this monsoon season with high hopes and a lot of optimism,” Chaudhary said in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Haslinda Amin and Rishaad Salamat, Friday. The country received good rainfall in June, the start of the four-month rainy period, but there have been disappointments after that, he said. 

There are some specific crops that have got affected, he said. Oilseed and cotton will see a drop in production as weaker rains have reduced their sowing areas, said Chaudhary, the head of the provider of post-harvest solutions such as procurement, storage, transportation, inspection and testing.