February 27, 2015

Good prospects seen for India's 2015 wheat crop: official

India's wheat crop prospects for 2015 appeared to be better than last year's on good weather conditions, a top farm ministry official told Reuters.

"So far, the crop health and overall prospects look better than last year, but we are watching any rise in temperature," farm secretary Ashish Bahuguna said.

A bumper wheat harvest would encourage the prime minister Narendra Modi-led government to continue with its policy of unrestricted export of wheat.

The farm ministry's initial estimate last week put this year's wheat production at 95.76 million tonnes against 95.85 million tonnes in 2014.