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Oilseeds, grains hit by erratic rains: Govt

Indian oilseeds, rice and other winter crops have been hit by the erratic monsoon and any further delay in rains would worsen the situation, the Union agriculture minister said on Wednesday.

"The situation is causing concern. Oilseeds, grains and pulses have been affected," Ajit Singh told Reuters.

The June-September southwest monsoon rains are vital for agriculture which accounts for 25 per cent of the country's gross domestic product and provides employment to 70 per cent of its one billion people.

The monsoon set over Kerala in early June and moved up to the western parts of the country but its progress in northwestern India has been erratic.

Concerned by the long dry spell, Singh held a meeting on Wednesday of agriculture ministers of 11 states which have received inadequate rains.

Representatives from most of the northern and northwestern states, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and southern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, attended the meeting.

Singh said if it did not rain over the next week there would be extensive damage to crops. "The farm situation would be alarming if it does not rain in five or six days time and we are in an alert mode," he said.

The minister said the country had sufficient stocks of grains and edible oils and consumers were not likely to suffer if the crops fail.

"There is enough edible oils in the country and if prices are going up it is because of the sentiment," Singh said.

Global prices have firmed up in the past few weeks on fears of lower oilseed crop in some countries, including India due to patchy rains and the United States because of hot weather.

Traders said India's winter oilseeds output could fall by 15 per cent from about 12 million tonnes in the previous season, following the deficient rains, mainly in the soybean growing area of Madhya Pradesh and groundnut-growing Gujarat.

India is the world's largest importer of edible oils and buys palm oil mostly from Malaysia and Indonesia and soft oils from South America.

Weather officials said the rains were deficient or scanty in 22 out of 36 meteorological divisions between June 1 and July 17.

"Consumers will not suffer since we have no shortage of grains but farmers will be hit," he said.

There are no fears of grain shortage in India which is sitting on mountains of wheat and rice. The country's grain stocks reached 65 million tonnes as on May 31, much higher than required buffer stock levels.

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