Reuters India's wheat plantings remained steady despite a rally in price of the staple to a record as farmers in a key producing central state shifted to rapeseed (mustard) to take advantage of even higher prices for the oilseed, farm ministry data showed on Monday. A lower-than-expected planting area in the world's second biggest wheat producer may cap an expected rise in production, after output fell last year because of a heatwave...

-Business Standard Claims that GM mustard will lead to increased yield are incorrect; we must focus on other solutions. India is the fifth-largest producer and also the seventh-largest importer of edible oils in the world. Though significant progress has been made in the production and yield of oilseeds in India, our annual vegetable oil import has been about $10 billion in recent years. The Ministry of Environment is allowing for genetically modified...

There is some respite expected for India in terms of prices of imported commodities. This may ease the depletion of its foreign exchange reserves. The country has faced a widening of its merchandise trade deficit from US$ -17.91 billion to US$ -26.91 billion between October 2021 and October 2022. The commodity price data provided by the World Bank in December 2022 (termed as The Pink Sheet) shows that energy prices plummeted by...

-The Tribune New Delhi: The Union Cabinet today approved a hike of up to 9 per cent in the minimum support price (MSP) of six rabi crops for next year’s marketing season, with a Rs 110 per quintal increase for wheat to boost domestic production and the income of farmers. The wheat MSP has been raised from Rs 2,015 to Rs 2,125 a quintal, a hike of 5.46 per cent. The highest...

-Livemint.com The government had to lower the import duty on edible oils several times in recent months to tame food inflation NEW DELHI: The government is set to launch an oilseed mission to boost domestic production of oilseeds and reduce import dependence, said NITI Aayog member, agriculture, Ramesh Chand. India currently makes around ₹1 trillion worth of edible oil imports every year or nearly half of its demand. The proposed scheme was devised after...