Date:27/05/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/27/stories/2008052759641200.htm

National

“MSP for paddy by month-end”

Wheat procurement this year has been the highest since Independence

HYDERABAD: The minimum support price for paddy will be announced by the Centre on May 29 or 30, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar told reporters here on Monday on the sidelines of a national conference of Ministers of Agriculture and Horticulture.

The Minister ruled out importing wheat as already 210 lakh tonnes had been procured against the target of 150 lakh tonnes. This was the highest procurement since Independence, he said.

There were requests from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Madagascar and some other African countries for wheat and rice.

But, the Minister said the position was difficult for exporting. However, in the case of Bangladesh up to five lakh tonnes of rice was cleared.

Mr. Pawar said the procurement of rice, which was 246 lakh tonnes till Sunday, was expected to exceed 270 lakh tonnes this year.

Asked about additional allocation of rice to Andhra Pradesh, he said the Centre would consider if the stock position improved, but would not provide the extra quantity at a subsidised rate.

Earlier, addressing the conference, he said there was a record food production of 212.28 million tonnes during 2006-07. It was likely to be surpassed by about 10 million tonnes.

Accordingly, an all-time record was expected in maize (18.54 million tonnes), coarse cereals (39.67 lakh tonnes), pulses (15.19 lakh tonnes), oilseeds (28.21 lakh tonnes) and cotton (23.19 million bales of 170 kg each). He said the country was the largest producer and consumer of pulses, accounting for about 25 per cent production and 27 per cent consumption. “Ironically, we are also the top importer with 19 per cent share of global import.”

Loss in crop production

Stating that the projected pulse requirement for 2011-12 was pegged at 19.11 million tonnes, the Minister called for a pro-active strategy for increasing production, productivity, avoiding post-harvest losses and expanding the crop area.

Mr. Pawar said that a recent report of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change and other studies had indicated a probability of 10-40 per cent loss in crop production with increases in temperature by the end of the century.

“These are very alarming figures and we need to make serious efforts for mitigation and adaptation to these changes.”