February 20, 2012

India's 2011-12 wheat output may exceed forecast

India's 2011-12 wheat production is expected to exceed government's current forecast of 88.31 million tonnes due to favourable weather conditions, India Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said.

This record harvest is expected to prove beneficial to the local farmers and traders, who have struggled to make global sales as international prices have been lower.

Moreover, the country's January 1, 2012 wheat stocks at government warehouses were 25.7 million tonnes, more than three times the official target for the quarter ending March 31.

Mr Sharad Pawar said, "I am not all worried about wheat production because the situation is good. Whatever the assessment we have made on production, there will be improvement. I don't expect any problem,"

In 2011, the country produced 86.87 tonnes of wheat.

At the NCDEX, wheat new futures for March 2012 contract were trading at INR1,233 (US$25.08)/ quintal, up by 0.41%, after opening at INR1,226 (US$24.94) against the previous closing price of INR1,228 (US$25). It touched an intra-day high of INR1,237 (US$25.17) till the trading at 3.11 pm IST.