August 23, 2007

Heavy rains good for India's oilseeds

Heavy rains may have inflicted damage to India's summer-sown crops in northeastern provinces, but the country will see an upswing in oilseeds production this year, Agriculture Secretary P.K. Mishra said Wednesday (August 22).

"There is some limited damage to crops such as corn and rice in the northeast due to floods," Mishra said on the sidelines of a conference on agriculture.

He said bountiful rains in the rest of the country have particularly had a positive impact on oilseeds plantings, which will push up their output.

"(Summer-sown) oilseeds production will certainly be higher than last year; crop condition is good," Mishra said.

He didn't disclose any numbers on likely oilseeds output.

Soybeans and groundnuts are two major oilseeds planted between June and August for harvest from October onwards.

According to government data, as of August 16, India's oilseeds acreage was estimated at 16.46 million hectares, up from 15.22 million hectares a year earlier.

The data showed that soybeans have been sown on 8.60 million hectares, up from 7.95 million hectares a year earlier.

Groundnuts have been planted on 4.99 million hectares of land, up from 4.33 million hectares.