Mustard

The associations said the measures were extremely necessary to stop the free fall in mustard seed prices

Samay Singh, a mustard seed grower in Gudawali village, is busy harvesting but is worried that he may not get a better price for his produce this year as the wholesale rate in mandi here has already crashed below the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 5,450 per quintal. Last year, Singh had harvested three quintals of mustard seed in his half acre land and sold at an average rate of Rs 7,000 per quintal. This year, yield is higher as there was no pest infestation and he expects production of at least four quintals but fears he may not get even MSP this time. Harikishan Sharma, a farmer from Dheeg block, is shocked at the mustard prices which began falling from October 2022 onwards, much before the harvesting and somewhere feels the cheaper palmolien imports is the culprit. In the last three months, mustard prices have fallen from Rs 8,000 per quintal to Rs 5,200 per quintal in Bharatpur mandis, the hub for mustard production and processors, according to these farmers. Farmers in thi

Earlier, a similar zero duty quota on the import of refined soybean oil was abolished

Expressing concern over rape-mustard seed rates falling below the minimum support price (MSP), edible oil industry body SEA on Tuesday demanded the government commence procurement and restrict imports of refined palm oil as part of steps to arrest the price drop. Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA), in a representation to both food and commerce secretaries, said mustard seed prices in the wholesale market yards have crashed below the MSP of Rs 5,450 per quintal and the arrivals are increasing on a daily basis. "Further drop in prices cannot be ruled out," SEA Executive Director B V Mehta said. He also noted that unbridled imports of refined palm oil have led to the collapse in domestic edible oil prices which is impacting the marketing of mustard seed at peak harvest time and causing distress to farmers. "We feel heavy imports of refined palmolein are neither helping our mustard farmer nor the Indian refining industry," he said. To arrest further fall in prices, SEA has

Estimates 4% increase in wheat output, around 1% for chana, and 7% for mustard

The MSP of mustard for 2023-24 is Rs 5,450 per quintal

The area covered under chana (gram), which is the biggest pulses grown in the rabi season, was around 11.2 mn hectares, which was 1.8% less than last year but 13.36% more than the normal area

The Union Environment Ministry on Saturday rebutted the claims made by activists that statutory regulations were violated during the appraisal and approval of GM mustard in India, saying the product was conditionally cleared only after stakeholder consultation. The Coalition of GM-free India, a group of NGOs opposing genetically modified crops, had on Friday released a report alleging that no (independent) health expert ever participated in GM mustard appraisal. In a response issued on Saturday, the ministry said: "The Assessment of Food and Environmental Safety (AFES) report prepared by the sub-committee in 2016 with regard to the biosafety dossier of GM mustard was uploaded on the ministry's website for inviting comments by the public for a period of 30 days (from September 5 to October 5, 2016). "Further, the entire dossier was also made available for review by the public in the ministry's office for the same duration," it said. "The conditional environmental release of GM musta

Highest week-on-week numbers since 2017-18; hopes of strong harvest

Both the minimum and maximum will remain below normal in Southern Peninsular and Central India in these winter months.

The next hearing will be on November 29

Almost 200 activists gathered outside the Directorate of Mustard Research in Bharatpur (Rajasthan), calling for halting the approvals

The plea stated that the modified seeds can contaminate non-GM mustard crops and that the sowing of such seeds should be put on hold

The bench queried the Centre's counsel on the current status in connection with the environmental release of GM mustard

The rains should aid planting of the rabi crop and also its early growth, mainly in crops such as wheat, mustard and chana

Even the opinion of farmers' groups seems divided after AIKS comes out in support

Wheat has been sown in 54,000 hectare so far in the ongoing rabi (winter) season of the 2022-23 crop year, 59 per cent higher than 34,000 hectare in the year-ago period, according to the agriculture ministry data released on Friday. The sowing of wheat, the main rabi crop, begins in October and harvesting in March-April. Besides, gram and mustard are other major crops grown during the rabi season (July-June). According to the latest sowing data, wheat sowing is underway in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Jammu & Kashmir. About 39,000 hectare was covered under wheat in Uttar Pradesh, 9,000 hectare in Uttarakhand, 2,000 hectare in Rajasthan and 1,000 hectare in Jammu & Kashmir as on October 28, the data showed. Area sown to pulses remained higher at 8.82 lakh hectare so far this rabi season against 5.91 lakh hectare in the year-ago period. Among pulses, the gram was planted in 6.96 lakh hectare against 5.91 lakh hectare a year ago. In the case of oilseeds, about 19.69 .

Scientists say this could be first such approval for a GM variety of Indian mustard anywhere in the world

Wheat is usually sown in around 31 million hectares, mostly in the northern belt

They say lifting of ban is in the interest not only of farmers and consumers, but also processors and downstream industry