March 7, 2007

India's wheat crop production to be better this year
 

India's wheat crop production is expected to be higher than the official estimate in the current crop year ending in April, the country's food secretary said Wednesday.

"Indications are that the crop this year will be much higher than what we officially estimated. Temperatures and levels of precipitation point to a much better crop," T. Nandakumar told an industry conference.

The government has estimated that wheat production will be at least 72.50 million tonnes, up from 69.48 million tonnes last crop year.

India contracted 5.5 million tonnes of wheat imports last year but received only 5.45 million tonnes, he said, without elaborating. However, he noted that there was a clause providing for 5 percent leeway in terms of the actual delivered volume.