New Delhi, July 14: India on Monday reimposed a ban on wheat exports and set up a ministerial group to ensure food security- on a day when the Prime Minister reviewed crop situation as also Monsoon, which the weatherman says will improve this week.
“The briefing that India Meteorological Department made this morning (on monsoon situation, I can say the) entire week will be a good week. If this prediction is correct, then I can definitely say we are out of trouble,” Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar told reporters.
He, however, said that the country has still not switched to ‘Plan-B’ although the Prime Minister asked officials to put in place a contingency plan.
Hours later, an official release said an Empowered Group of Ministers, led by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, will look into foodgrain procurement and management. Separately, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade issued a notification that cancelled a July 3 order allowing exports of wheat.
The government had slapped a ban on export of wheat and wheat products in 2007 to boost domestic supply, but had relaxed it 10 days ago- when it allowed export of up to nine lakh tonnes of the food grain through three state-owned firms.
Sources said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was apprised of the crop situation and officials expected 95 per cent of sowing to be completed this month. Paddy sowing has not reached last year’s level. “I’m keeping my fingers crossed,” Pawar told reporters separately.
However, the DGFT has so far not withdrawn the go-ahead on the export of up to 6.5 lakh tonnes of wheat products by March-end next year.
The country’s wheat production is estimated at 77.63 million tonnes in 2008-09, a tad less than the 78.57 million tonnes the previous year. Of this, official agencies have procured over 25 million tonnes mainly for welfare programmes.
The EGoM would look into issues relating to revision Central Issue Price for wheat and rice, strategy for procurement of food grains, management of central stocks of wheat and rice, policy for import and export and price management of edible oils and issues relating to the proposed food security law, among other things.
According to official estimates, 66.66 per cent of the country’s 140 million hectares cultivable land depends on rains, while the rest is irrigated.
The weather office expects monsoon to be near normal in July, which is crucial for the 235-million strong farming community.
The IMD had forecast below normal rainfall this year in June. It said the country was expected to receive 93 per cent rains of the average rainfall for the season while northwestern regions would get deficient rains.
The country as a whole has received near normal rainfall last week and 21 out of the 36 meteorological sub-divisions received normal to excess rains. In the rest 15 sub-divisions, rainfall was either deficient or scanty, the weather office said.
–Agencies