Page 4 - Wheat

Wheat sowing still tad down; mustard acreage more than last year

While the acreage drop in Bihar could be due to delayed harvest of paddy, the fall in area in Rajasthan as compared to last year might be due to reporting delays because of polls

Winter in India may be less severe this year due to El Nino, says IMD

India's avg max and min temperatures in November third highest since 1901

Govt allows export of certain amount of wheat, broken rice to 5 countries

The government has permitted exports of specified quantities of wheat, wheat flour and broken rice to five countries, including Bhutan, Mali and Indonesia, a notification said on Thursday. The quantity notified for Bhutan includes 14,184 tonnes of wheat grain, 5,326 tonnes of atta, 15.226 tonnes of maida/semoline, and 48,804 tonnes of broken rice. Broken rice shipments are also permitted to Mali (1 lakh tonnes), Senegal (5 lakh tonnes in six months), Gambia (50,000 tonnes in six months), and Indonesia (2 lakh tonnes). The export is permitted through National Cooperative Exports Limited (NCEL), the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification. NCEL is a company set up with cooperative societies as its promoters. Though exports of wheat and broken rice were banned to boost domestic supply, outbound shipments are allowed on the basis of permission granted by the government to certain countries to meet their food security needs and on request. "Export of (wheat

Wheat sowing down 5% so far in ongoing rabi season at 8.6 mn hectares

Area under coverage for wheat has fallen 5 per cent to 86.02 lakh hectares so far in the ongoing rabi (winter-sown) season, according to the agriculture ministry data. The sowing area of wheat stood at 91.02 lakh hectares in the same period last year. "About 86.02 lakh hectares area coverage has been reported compared to 91.02 lakh hectare during the corresponding period of last year. Thus 5.01 lakh hectare less area has been covered compared to last year," the ministry said. Area under coverage for wheat is so far lower in Uttar Pradesh (3.87 lakh hectares), Punjab (2.28 lakh hectares), Haryana (2.14 lakh hectares) and Gujarat (0.71 lakh hectares). The higher wheat area is reported mainly from Madhya Pradesh (3.44 lakh hectare) and Rajasthan (0.68 lakh hectare). The government has banned exports of wheat and is offloading wheat in the open market from its buffer stock to boost domestic supply and control retail prices of wheat and atta (wheat flour). As per the data, paddy acrea

Govt sells 284,000 tonnes of wheat, 5,830 tonnes of rice from buffer stock

The government on Thursday said it has sold 2.84 lakh tonnes of wheat and 5,830 tonnes of rice from its buffer stock to 2,334 bidders through an e-auction as part of efforts to control retail prices by offloading food grains in the open market. In an official statement, the food ministry said that the 21st e-auction was held on November 15, wherein 3 lakh tonnes of wheat and 1.79 lakh tonnes of rice were offered under Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) Domestic. The ministry said that 2.84 lakh tonnes of wheat along with 5,830 tonnes of rice were sold to 2,334 bidders. As part of the central government initiative for market intervention to control the retail price of rice, wheat and atta, weekly e-auctions of both wheat and rice are conducted by the government. The Food Corporation of India, the government's nodal agency for procurement and distribution of food grains, is offloading wheat from its buffer stock under OMSS. The ministry said the weighted average selling price was Rs ...

Wheat sowing continues to remain below par, might pick up pace after Diwali

Some traders also felt that sowing will pick up pace after Diwali and in the final analysis, the total acreage across India might be around the normal wheat acreage of around 31 million hectares

Minister flags off 100 vans for sale of 'Bharat' Atta at Rs 27.50/kg

Bharat Atta will be distributed by NCCF, NAFED, physical outlets of Kendriya Bhandar and also be made available at other cooperative and retail stores

Wheat sowing falls as UP sugarcane farmers yet to clear kharif crop fields

Traders in UP said the initial wheat sowing is down this year due to a delay in sugarcane harvesting. The farmers are waiting to clear their fields of the kharif crop

Govt hikes wheat MSP by Rs 150 per quintal to Rs 2,275 for 2024-25

Ahead of assembly polls in key wheat growing states, the government on Wednesday announced an increase in the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat by Rs 150 to Rs 2,275 per quintal for the 2024-25 marketing season. This is the highest increase by the Narendra Modi-led government since it came to power in 2014. A decision in this regard was taken in the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Modi. Currently, the MSP on wheat stands at Rs 2,125 per quintal for the 2023-24 marketing season (April-March). Briefing media, I&B minister Anurag Thakur said the CCEA has approved the increase in the MSP for all mandated rabi crops for 2024-25 marketing season. "Based on the CACP recommendation, we have increased the MSP of six rabi crops. Wheat MSP has been increased by Rs 150 per quintal," he said. The support price of wheat has been increased to Rs 2,275 per cent quintal for 2024-25 marketing season, from Rs 2,125 per quintal in 2023-24, he

Indian wheat prices at 8-month high on festival demand, tight supply

Wheat prices in New Delhi jumped by 1.6% on Tuesday to 27,390 rupees ($329) per metric ton, the highest since Feb. 10. Prices have surged by nearly 22% over the past six months

Wheat tops two-week high on global demand, traders eye Middle East

Corn futures eased as traders monitored the U.S. harvest, while gains in soyoil futures helped lift the soybean market, analysts said

FCI sells 189,000 tonne wheat, 5,000 tonne rice in 15th weekly e-auction

State-owned Food Corporation of India (FCI) sold 1.89 lakh tonne of wheat and only 5,000 tonne of rice to bulk consumers like flour millers in the 15th weekly e-auction held on Wednesday. Wheat and rice are being sold under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) to bulk users to improve the domestic availability and cool down retail prices. According to the food ministry, about 1.89 lakh tonne of wheat was sold in the weekly e-auction held on October 4 against 2.01 lakh tonne offered. However, FCI continued to get lukewarm response for weekly e-auction of rice under OMSS with traders purchasing just 5,000 tonne of grains against 4.87 lakh tonne offered. Wheat and rice were sold to 2,255 bidders during the e-auction. Around 2,447 empanelled buyers participated for both wheat and rice, the ministry said in a statement. The weighted average selling price was Rs 2,185.05 per quintal for fair and average quality (FAQ) wheat against the reserve price of Rs 2,150 per quintal, while the weigh

Rabi season: Govt aims 60% of wheat area under climate resilient varieties

Ahead of rabi sowing from next month, the Centre on Tuesday said it targets to bring 60 per cent of the total wheat area of 30 million hectare under the climate-resistant varieties amid strong El Nino conditions. Despite the challenges of climate change, the Union Agriculture Ministry has kept a target of achieving a record wheat output of 114 million tonne in the 2023-24 rabi season against the actual output of 112.74 million tonne in the year-ago period. Sowing of wheat, the main rabi (winter) crop, begins in October, while harvesting starts in March/April. Addressing a national conference held to chalk out a strategy for sowing rabi (winter) crops, Agriculture Secretary Manoj Ahuja said: "There are certain changes in climate change, which is affecting agriculture. Our strategy is climate resilient seeds". Faced with a heatwave in 2021, the government encouraged farmers in 2022 to go for heat-tolerant wheat varieties in 47 per cent of the total wheat acreage of 30 million ...

Bumper harvest of Russian wheat halves world prices from wartime high

"There are not a lot of competitors for Russian wheat," said Helene Duflot, a grain-market analyst at Strategie Grains. "Russia is the price maker at the moment"

Supply of wheat, rice, sugar & edible oils adequate, says Food Secy

Retail prices of key essential food items, especially wheat, rice, sugar, and edible oil prices, are unlikely to see any sharp upswing in the upcoming festival season as the country has adequate supply and the government is keeping a close vigil on hoarders, Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra said on Thursday. "So my analysis is that in the next upcoming festive season, I do not see any kind of a sharp upswing in prices of the commodities that we deal with whether it is wheat or rice or sugar or edible oils," Chopra told reporters. The government is taking "corrective action" whenever it's required. For instance, the stock limit was further reduced to 2,000 tonnes for traders, wholesalers, and big chain retailers with immediate effect amid an uptick in prices, he said. He also said there is an adequate supply of wheat, rice, sugar, and edible oils in the country. On sugar, the secretary said although sugar prices are holding stable, due to some rumours of likely shortage due to lower ..

India has no immediate plan to scrap import duty on wheat: Official

New Delhi was considering cutting or even abolishing a 40% import tax on wheat as part of efforts to boost supplies, a government official said last month

Govt further cuts stock limit on wheat traders, retailers amid price rise

The government on Thursday further reduced the stock limit on wheat traders, wholesalers and big chain retailers to 2,000 tonnes from 3,000 tonnes with immediate effect amid uptick in prices. Announcing the decision, Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra said: "Keeping in view of recent uptick in the prices, we have had a review of the stock limits and effective today the stock limit on traders, wholesalers and big chain retailers stand reduced to 2000 tonne." Three months back on June 12, the government had imposed a stock limit of 3,000 tonnes on these wheat players till March 2024. The stock limit has been reduced to 2,000 tonnes as the government found there is an "an uptick in the wheat prices on the NCDEX by 4 per cent to Rs 2,550 per quintal in the past one month." "Although there is adequate availability of wheat in the country, I think there are some elements which are trying to create some artificial scarcity," Chopra told reporters.

India sent 50,000 MTs of wheat, 28 tonnes of disaster relief to Afghanistan

Amid worsening humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, India said it delivered 50,000 MTs of wheat, 28 tons of disaster relief and 200 tons of medicines, vaccines and other medical items to the country

FCI sells 166,000 tonnes wheat, only 17,000 tonnes rice via 11th e-auction

State-owned Food Corporation of India (FCI) has sold 1.66 lakh tonnes of wheat and only 17,000 tonnes of rice from the central pool through 11th e-auction last week as part of the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) to control retail prices. Last month, the government announced it will offload additional 50 lakh tonnes of wheat and 25 lakh tonnes of rice from the central pool in the open market to bulk buyer to contain cereal prices. The food ministry, in a statement, said in the 11th e-auction held on September 6, a total of 2 lakh tonnes of wheat from 500 depots and 4.89 lakh tonnes of rice from 337 depots were offered from across the country. "In the e-auction, 1.66 lakh tonne of wheat and 0.17 lakh tonne of rice was sold," it said. The weighted average selling price was Rs 2,169.65 per quintal for FAQ (fair and average quality) wheat against the reserve price of Rs 2,150 per quintal pan-India, whereas weighted average selling price of URS (Under Relaxed Specifications) wheat was Rs

India supplied 47,500 MT of wheat to Afghanistan since Taliban's takeover

Besides sending wheat, India has also been consistently providing medical and food assistance using land routes bordering Pakistan and the Chabahar Port in Iran