Export Ban - Move comes in the wake of deficient rainfall

As contingent measures to deal with the deficient rainfall, the Centre on Friday said it will stop all exports of non-Basmati rice and wheat, and bear half of the subsidy on diesel offered to farmers by the states.

  

The decisions were announced by Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar in the Rajya Sabha, a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Cabinet colleagues were briefed on the monsoon situation and Kharif sowing on Thursday. “We have already stopped the export of non-Basmati rice through the diplomatic channel (meant for humanitarian aid). We will soon stop export of two million tonnes of wheat through the same channel,” he said, responding to a debate on deficient monsoon and agriculture contingencies.

He assured the House that the government had rice and wheat stocks for 13 months in its kitty. On the soaring price of pulses, he hinted at the possibility of import of certain pulses which would be distributed through the public distribution system. Pulses are grown in the rain-fed areas of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, which did not receive adequate rain, creating a worrisome situation, he said.

On the tur dal price crossing Rs 100 a kg, Pawar said it might be a temporary phenomenon which could be managed if the monsoon situation improved. But the demand-supply gap may be met through import.

On paddy cultivation, he said “substantial” shortfall had been witnessed in Bihar, east Uttar Pradesh and west Uttar Pradesh. But Punjab and Haryana were not a problem as the farmers had sustained the transplanted crop with irrigated water. Pawar said while 100 MWe of additional power from the Central pool was released to the farmers in Punjab and Haryana, the Centre had agreed to release another 100 MWe for the next 15 days. The Centre has agreed to share half of the financial burden of the Bihar government that had announced a diesel subsidy for the farmers, he said.

As much as 15 lakh quintals of additional seeds have been made available to support the alternative plans.

Source: Deccan Herald

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China may increase their Rice imports from India

China may enhance rice import from India in coming years in the wake of rise in cost of farm production, an expert said today. 

"China's total rice import was 2-3 million tonnes from Vietnam and India last year. I can't say how much rice has been imported from India but definitely some quantity has been imported for the first time after a gap of many years," US- based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Director General Shenggen Fan said at an event here. 

India emerged as the world's largest rice exporter in 2012 beating its Asian counterpart Thailand with shipment of around 10 million tonnes. 

"It is just a beginning and China's rice import from India could enhance in the coming years with cost of labour, water and land increasing. Also, it is cheaper to import foodgrains from India instead of providing subsidies to farmers," he said. 

As far as wheat is concerned, the country is buying largely from the US, Canada and Australia and not from India. "However, there is scope for import as India has a massive stocks of rice and wheat," he said on the sidelines of a function here. 

India has sufficient rice and wheat stocks due to bumper production. Last year, rice and wheat output was at record 104.32 million tonnes and 93.90 million tonnes, respectively. 

On poverty level in Asian countries like India and China, Fan said, "The region as a whole is not on track in meeting the millennium development goal (MDG) of cutting the rate of undernourishment by half between 1990 and 2015." 

Only in the southeastern Asia, the trend is on the MDG target, he said, adding that food and nutrition insecurity continues to be an important challenge in Asia. 

"India accounts for some 217 million or a quarter of all undernourished people globally. As a result, India is likely to miss the MDG target," he said. 

Innovations in agri-technologies, institutions and policy are to be improved to address the challenges of food and nutritional insecurity in Asia, he added. 

Emphasizing that investment in agri-research have substantially reduced rural poverty by stimulating farm growth and reducing food prices, Fan said: "The research finding shows that for every rupee invested in agri-research in India, Rs 13.5 is returned. 

"Therefore, Indian government should increase investment in agriculture, rural infrastructure and education as these have high payoffs in terms of raising smallholder farmers' productivity and incomes," he added. 

Doubling investment in agriculture research and output maximizing scenario results in 261 million people moving out of poverty globally by 2025, IFPRI observed.

Source: Economic Times

India's exports to Iran up 17 per cent in April-June 2012:

India's exports to sanction-hit Iran grew by 7 per cent year-on-year to $705.8 million during the April-June period of the current fiscal year, Assocham today said.

The country's exports to Iran during April-June 2011 stood at $605.3 million.

"The exports to Iraq, another hot spot in the Middle-East, saw a big jump, bucking the overall trend of decline in Indian exports," it said. India's exports to Iran comprise agri items like basmati rice, tea, sugar and soyabean.

The chamber also said that India has reduced its oil imports from Iran due to the US pressure. Iran is India's second largest oil supplier after Saudi Arabia.

India's overall imports from the key Middle East country declined by about 25 per cent to $2.71 billion during the first quarter of this fiscal year from $3.6 billion in the same period last year.

"The crude oil import was the largest item of imports from Iran. As the country faced the US pressure and the payment system for Iranian crude was disturbed, India's imports from that country had to drop sharply," Assocham said.

The country's overall imports in the first half of the current fiscal year were down by 3.6 per cent to $234.8 billion.

It said that India has exported several food items like wheat to Iran which has been hit hard by the sanctions from UN, the US and Europe against its disputed nuclear programme.

Further, the chamber said that India's exports to Iraq jumped to $334.5 million during the April-June quarter from $132.8 million in the same period of 2011-12.

"Although the situation in Iraq is not similar to Iran", India's imports from Iraq also declined by 16.6 per cent to $4.6 billion during the period from $5.5 billion in April-June 2011, it added.
Among the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) countries, the share of Indonesia, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in India's imports increased significantly.

In contrast, the share of Iran in India's total imports declined to 2.4 per cent during April-June 2012 from 3 per cent in the same period previous year. Similarly, the share of Iraq in the country's total imports declined to 4 per cent from 4.5 per cent in Q1 of 2011-12.

"Irrespective of the pressure from the west, India needs to pursue its economic ties with Iran and other important countries in the Middle-East," Assocham president Rajkumar N Dhoot said in a statement.

"We will continue to build bridges between the businesses of the countries," Mr Dhoot said.

Source:-profit.ndtv.com 

Grapes' export, groundnuts' shipping will now require Apeda's registration

The government has tightened the export norms for grapes and groundnuts wherein the export of grapes to the European Union (EU) and shipping of groundnuts to world markets will now require registration from the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), as per the information revealed by the Commerce Ministry. 

However, export of groundnuts and its products to Russia will not require such registration. 

“Export of groundnuts and its products to all countries except Russia would require registration from Apeda along with controlled aflatoxin level certificate by the recognised laboratories,” as per the notification issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). 

So far, compulsory registration of contracts with Apeda, along with controlled aflatoxin level certificate, was required only for exports to EU. 

As per the notification, the export of groundnuts and its products to Russia would continue to be on the basis of pre-shipment certificate by notified laboratories. 

Besides, DGFT said, “Export of grapes to EU would require registration from Apeda.” 

The European authorities have rejected several consignments of grapes due to the presence of a chemical residue. Chloromacvat chemical is used as preservative to keep the fruit fresh. 

The major exporters of grapes are Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Grapes are harvested during February-April.

Source: India mart news.

Exports to US, Europe, China eligible to fetch govt incentives

From 1st Jan 2013, exports to conventional markets such as US and Europe will be eligible to fetch government incentives.

Concerned over the shrinkage of Indian exports during the first eight months of the current fiscal, the government has notified a scheme whereby an exporter is entitled to get an incentive even if exports are meant for US, Europe or China, three key destinations of Indian exports.

Earlier, incentives were meant for exports to new markets like Central Asia and Latin America.

Under this performance-oriented scheme titled Incremental Exports Incentivisation Scheme, exporters will get duty credit scrip at 2% on incremental growth of exports to be achieved during January-March quarter of 2012-13 over the same period last fiscal.

But exporters will be eligible only if they export more in value terms during the current financial year in comparison to that of the last fiscal.

While talking to ET, Director General of Foreign Trade Dr Anup K Pujari said the scheme should drive the exporters to work hard and achieve more.

"We want exporters to work harder during this quarter and show results. The scheme will cover exports to USA, Europe and Asian countries. But exports to Singapore, UAE and Hong Kong will not be eligible as those are mere trans-shipment hubs," Pujari said.

He further added that this scheme would be over and above other existing schemes. "We want to reward the performing exporters rather than distributing sops among all," he added.

The scheme, however, will not include exports from SEZs, service exports, and exports of select goods like diamond, gold, silver, platinum, cereals, milk, sugar etc.

The total Indian exports between April and October in 2012-13 was $169 billion, down 6% over the corresponding period of the last fiscal.

Source: The Economic Times