No demonetisation impact on rabi sowing

Sowing in the rabi season has picked up pace, shows the Agriculture Ministry’s data released on Friday. Total sowing of all the five rabi crops so far is 554.91 lakh hectares (lh), up 6 per cent compared to last year. Acreage under wheat is 278.62 lh, compared to the normal area of 274.66 lh. Some of the key wheat growing States including Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Bihar have reported higher acreage. Pulses have been sown over an area of 138.22 lh so far, up 10 per cent over last year. Only in coarse cereals and rice, the area sown is lower relative to last year.

Government rules out importing wheat

Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan has ruled out possibility of import of wheat on government account saying there is adequate buffer stock to meet the requirement under the Public Distribution System. The government recently scrapped import duty on wheat to boost supplies and bring down prices. As on December 1, FCI had 27.55 million tonnes of food grains of which wheat was 16.4 million tonnes, the minister said.

Coffee output to drop

India’s coffee output in the current 2016-17 season will be lower by 9 per cent at 3.16 lakh tonnes (lt) over last year’s 3.48 lt due to poor monsoon in the key growing regions of Karnataka, said the State-run Coffee Board on Thursday. The Board has pegged arabica output lower by 7 per cent and that of robusta lower by 9.8 per cent compared to last year. In Karnataka — which accounts for 72 per cent of the country’s coffee output — the maximum decline in production is seen in Chikmagaluru and Kodagu districts, followed by Hassan.

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