1.   

Onion prices crash below production cost

Onion farmers could not recover their production cost this year. They are selling onions at 40% less than the last year's prices while exports have fallen 30% from April to September. The prices have fallen due to higher supplies this year. Farmers are offloading carryover stocks ahead of the November harvest. Some are selling to raise cash for .....

2.   

Oman plans to import more bananas, mangoes

Filipino traders can now look forward to exporting fruits to Oman after officials in the Middle Eastern nation had expressed interest in setting up joint ventures here, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said. Demand for oriental fruits like Philippine banana, pineapple, and mangoes “are gaining strong foothold” in the Oman mainstream market, the DFA said, Quoting Oman Chamber of Commerce and .....

3.   

Govt may impose 70% import duty on rice

After a gap of almost two years, the government has decided to bring back imports of rice under the duty regime. The finance ministry has proposed to impose 70 per cent duty on the import of semi- and wholly-milled rice from November. The import of the commodity has been under the zero-duty regime since October 2009, when international prices were very high. The import duty had been lifted to .....

4.   

Govt's foodgrain stock at 51.78 million tonnes till Oct 1

Foodgrain stocks in the government's godowns were almost two-and-a-half times more than the required stock at 51.78 million tonnes at the start of the current month, a fact that re-affirms India's food surplus status. As per government norms, Food Corporation of India (FCI) should have 21.2 million tonnes (MT) of wheat and rice available in its buffer stock as of October 1 every year, which includes 5 MT in .....