August 21, 2006

India to sell 500,000 tonnes of subsidised corn to poultry farmers

India's federal government Friday (Aug 18) decided to sell 500,000 tonnes of corn to poultry farmers from its own stocks at a subsidised rate of 450 rupees (US$9.7) per 100 kilogrammes to help them recover from the recession because of an outbreak of bird flu in February.

The decision was taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, or CCEA.

"The corn will be made available to farmers by September and will help them reduce their cost of poultry feed," an official said after the meeting.

Corn is currently available in bulk, in the national capital at Rp745-770 per 100 kg.

Traders said prices are also rising as heavy rains have led to supply delays from corn-producing areas.

The poultry industry is the single largest user of corn in India, using between 6-7 million tonnes as feed for poultry stocks each year.

Another 3.5 million tonnes is used for human consumption, and 1.5 million tonnes is consumed by the starch and livestock industries, respectively.

Of the remaining output, some is retained by farmers for use as seed in the next planting season and the rest goes as waste.