Farmers awaiting a rise in edible oil customs duty Farmers are holding back stocks of rapeseed and mustard, a govt. decision on which they feel would bolster prices, trades said on. They said arrivals of rapeseed and mustard in the markets had fallen due to a move in price below the levels fixed by the govt. rapeseed prices have dropped to around Rs. 900 to Rs. 1000 a quintal against the support price of Rs. 1,100 fixed by the govt. in states like Gujarat and Rajasthan. The prices were around Rs. 1,200 a quintal during the same period last year. Gujarat accounts for 15% of the country’s rapeseed output. The vegetable oil trade has been hit due to huge inflow cheap imported oils. India imported 1.87 million tonnes of edible oil in the first half of ‘99-00 (Nov-Oct), up 31 % from the previous year. In December, the govt. had raised import duty on refined edible oils to 27.5 % from 16.5 % but the enough to stem imports. Daily arrivals in Rajasthan, the biggest rapeseed producer in the country, have dropped to around 1,00,000 bags compared with 2,50,000 bags in the same period last year, traders said. The country gets most of its rapeseed output from the summer or rabi crop, which is sown in winter and harvested in March. India produced 4.9million tonnes of rapeseed in ‘98-99 and industry officials have estimated 5.1 million tonnes of output in ‘99-00. |
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