Monsoon rains in India in the week through Wednesday were below average for the second straight week, the weather office said, raising concerns over production of summer-sown crops such as cotton, soybean, corn and rice.
Export prices of rice from Thailand slid to their lowest in more than two years this week due to a weak baht and high shipping costs, while sluggish demand kept India rates near 4-1/2 year lows for a second straight week.
Protesting Indian farmers camped outside New Delhi said on Thursday the government's decision to raise state-mandated prices for summer crops such as rice was not enough to end their sit-in against new agricultural legislation.
IndiaIndian farmers expect to harvest record wheat, rice crops this year
Mayank Bhardwaj
2 minute read
Workers remove dust from wheat at a wholesale grain market in Chandigarh, India April 17, 2017. REUTERS/Ajay Verma
India is expected to produce a record 108.75 million tonnes of wheat this year, the farm ministry said in its third forecast for the crop year to June 2021, marginally lower than its previous estimate of 109.24 million tonnes.
Rice output in the world s biggest exporter and the second largest producer is estimated at a record 121.46 million tonnes compared to a forecast of 120.32 million tonnes in February. read more
The farm ministry forecast this year s total grains output to be at a record 305.44 million tonnes, up from its previous estimate of 297.5 million tonnes.
ChinaReshaping grain trade? China moves to change animal feed recipes
ReutersHallie GuDominique Patton
5 minutes read
Pigs are seen on a family farm in Xiaoxinzhuang village, Hebei province, China January 25, 2018. REUTERS/Dominique Patton
China issued guidelines on Wednesday recommending the reduction of corn and soymeal in pig and poultry feed, a measure that could reshape the flow of grains into the world s top corn and soybean buyer.
China s corn prices surged more than a third in the most recent year following a drop in output and state stockpiles. The country started importing a lot more corn to compensate for the domestic deficit. So feed makers have already been switching to cheaper alternatives, especially wheat.