April 2, 2009
India state agency to sell corn in Karnataka
The Food Corporation of India (FCI), the state-run procurement agency, has offered to sell 326,039 tonnes of corn in Karnataka, an official said Wednesday (Apr 1).
FCI had intervened in the local markets of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh late last year to prevent prices from falling below government-offered Minimum Support Price (MSP). India has increased MSP by 35 percent during the 2008-09 corn year.
Corn prices have been lower since the start of corn year in October 2008 on poor export demand and bird flu outbreak, analysts said.
The official said FCI had purchased corn at MSP of Rs840 (US$16.7).
India has so far exported more than 300,000 tonnes of corn this year.
