June 04, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 29, 1429

NEW DELHI, June 3: India expects its rice harvest to rise by two million tons and wheat output to increase by over one million tons next year spurred higher by the use of better seeds, a top farm ministry official said on Tuesday.

Agriculture Commissioner N B Singh told Reuters in an interview India already had more than adequate stocks of wheat, and is expected to meet its target to buy 27 million tons of rice this year, raising hopes curbs on exports will be eased.

“We are hopeful of meeting a target of two million tons of extra rice next year as there is a huge scope to increase productivity by popularising hybrid seeds,” Singh said.

In April, the government forecast a record wheat crop of 76.78 million tons and 95.68 million tons of rice this year.

India has fixed a floor price of $1,000 per ton and levied a $200 per ton export tax on basmati rice, and banned shipments of other grades, aiming to ensure smooth supplies and tame inflation, currently at a three-year high of 8.1 per cent.

India has retained controls on grain exports although Cambodia last month lifted its ban on rice exports, while Japan has pledged to release at least 300,000 tons of imported rice from storage onto the world market to help ease a global food crisis.Singh said India may broaden the definition of basmati rice to include the high-yielding aromatic Pusa 1121 variety, a long-pending demand of exporters who want to export premium non-basmati rice.

“It is being considered. There will be a decision soon.”

Singh said India’s food situation had improved since the country imported wheat two years ago after a gap of six years. “Our efforts were to boost production and productivity.

Weather has been helpful. Supply of fertiliser has gone up and quality seeds have been made available to farmers,” he said.

Farm officials have been trying to raise productivity in the country, where farmland is shrinking because of industrial growth and urbanisation.

Singh said the government was giving incentives to farmers and seed suppliers to make hybrid seeds, which can raise productivity significantly, more popular.

“Last year, the area under hybrid rice was one million hectares. In the next four years, we should increase the area under hybrid to at least three million hectares,” Singh said.

—Reuters