Search Result for : Fao

El Nino to raise the global rice prices

The Dollar Business Bureau Global rice prices are to see a spike from 10% to 20% in the coming few months as an EL Nino weather pattern rack the top producers in Asia desiccating to the cropland and sabotaging the grain stock to a multi-year low. Though the high prices may be a bad news to the countries in Asia and Africa, lower output will however help the next level exporter Thailand offload its swelling stock that have weighed on the market stocks and have pushed the stock prices down the normal benchmark of 7-1/2 years low of $367.50 per tonne in June. The scarcity in the annual rainfall linked to El Nino has already succeeded in disrupting the rice plantation in ...

Fall in global food prices favours Indias import plan

The Dollar Business Bureau  Falling prices of food products in the international market can prove beneficial for India which needs to import many items to meet the domestic demand. Since the domestic food production is expected to reduce due to bad monsoon, the government has been considering increasing imports of certain products to bridge the production deficit. Government estimates say that India’s total food grain production is projected to be around 251 million tonnes during the current crop year ending in June. The estimated production is less than 265 million tonnes recorded a year ago. Earlier this month, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said that his government was mulling over increasing imports of pulses to check its soaring price within the ...

Huge potential in export of ornamental fish: Indias Agri Minister

The Dollar Business Bureau Radha Mohan Singh, Union Agriculture Minister, Government of India, has urged the public and private sectors to join hands to further boost seafood exports from India. Speaking at a seminar on Fisheries organised by Central Institute of Fisheries Education (CIFE), in Bihar today, Singh said that while fisheries sector in India has received greater attention in the recent years than in the past, there is a need to adopt technology and a scientific attitude by the different stakeholders in the sector. India’s total fish production stands at around 10 million tonnes and it is second largest after China, he added. India is also a top seafood exporter, with exports touching $5 billion in ...

Indias cereal exports to Nepal forecast to increase sharply in 2014-15

The Dollar Business Bureau India’s exports of cereals to Nepal are expected to increase significantly in the marketing year 2014 – 15 (July – June) due to a below-normal harvest in Nepal this year. According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), rice production in Nepal is expected to decline by around 9% y/y to about 4.6 million tonnes. This is mainly due to below average monsoon rains this year but floods and landslides in August 2014 in Nepal has also hurt production in the country, said FAO. Wheat and maize production in Nepal are, however, expected to remain at last year’s levels of around 1.9 million tonnes and 2.3 million tonnes respectively. Nepal is a major trading ...

Indian rice exporters demand restoration of Interest Subvention Scheme

The Dollar Business Bureau (Pic - Bazaar-e Reza in Mashhad, Iran) Iran has slowed down purchases of Indian agriculture products in recent months following the ease of sanctions against it earlier this year   Faced with various hurdles in the international markets, the All India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA) has urged the government to restore the Interest Subvention Scheme to avert a decline in rice exports and losses this year. After remaining a leader for three years, Indian rice exporters are likely to face a slowdown in FY2014-15 due to geo-political changes, low global prices and high supplies. According to official sources, India exported around 10.9 million tonnes of rice in FY2013-14, and India’s total rice exports during April – September 2014 ...

Open trade is a great tool to fight malnutrition: WTO

Sachin Manawaria | @TheDollarBiz Source - World Life Expectancy   The least developed countries (LDCs) are the ones where malnutrition is at the highest, and multilateralism can play a significant role in addressing this problem, David Shark, Deputy Director-General, World Trade Organisation (WTO), said at the Second International Conference on Nutrition in Rome this week. Facts show that improved economic activity and trade in a country aids in the improvement in the per capita income of its citizens. According to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates, nearly 870 million people of the 7.1 billion people in the world (or one in eight) suffer from chronic undernourishment. Of this, almost 852 million are from developing countries, and represent around 15% ...

Time to tweak Indias rice export policy

Bidhu Bhushan Palo | @TheDollarBiz There is good news for Indian rice exporters. According to industry estimates, India’s rice production is likely to reach (or at least remain) at record high levels of around 105 million tonnes again in 2014-15. This improves chances that India will retain its position as the world’s largest rice exporter, ahead of Thailand and Vietnam, for the third year in a row. Thailand lost its top rice exporter status for the first time in over two decades in 2011-12 to India. However, the reasons behind this are far from something that will make our exporters (or farmers) beam with pride. One reason was a glut in India due to a three-year ban on exports ...

WTO launches intensive consultations on Trade Facilitation Agreement

 The Dollar Business Bureau | @TheDollarBiz Multilateral trading system has strong support across the world, says WTO chief Roberto Azevêdo (Pic. source - WTO)   Roberto Azevêdo, Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), has launched “intensive and comprehensive” consultations on taking the Bali Package forward which includes both Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) and concerns on food security raised by India. Members have been asked to report the outcome and in the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) on October 6, 2014. Azevêdo urged members not link TFA with other deals. He said, “There seems to be a clear interplay between concerns relating to the negotiations on public stockholding for food security purposes and the adoption of the protocol of amendment on the ...