Agri Commodity Technical Report 04 February 2025 - Geojit Financial Services Ltd
MARKET NEWS/UPDATES
* The Union Budget for 2025-26 (Apr-Mar) announced the launch of the PM Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana, a comprehensive programme aimed at boosting rural prosperity and resilience. This initiative will initially focus on 100 select districts in partnership with state governments through the convergence of existing schemes and specialised measures. "The programme will cover 100 districts with low productivity, moderate crop intensity and below average credit parameters," Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said while presenting the Budget in the Lok Sabha on Saturday. The scheme will focus on enhancing agricultural productivity, adopting crop diversification and sustainable agricultural practices, augmenting post-harvest storages at panchayat and block levels, improving irrigation facilities and facilitating the availability of long- and short-term credit. The scheme has been pegged to help 17 million farmers, the finance minister said. Sitharaman also proposed to launch a multi-sectoral Rural Prosperity and Resilience programme in partnership with states. "This will address under-employment in agriculture, bring investment and technology through skilling, investment, technology, and invigorating the rural economy. The goal is to generate ample opportunities in rural areas so that migration is an option but not a necessity. The programme will focus on rural women, rural youth, marginal and small farmers, and landless families," she said. The scheme will incorporate global and domestic best practices and will seek appropriate technical and financial assistance from multilateral development banks.
* PULSES PROMOTION: The government will also launch a 6-year mission to promote production of pulses, with a special focus on tur, urad, and masur. Central agencies such as National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India and National Cooperative Consumers Federation of India will procure these 3 pulses as much as offered from farmers who register with these agencies and enter into agreements. "Ten years ago, we made concentrated efforts and achieved near self-sufficiency in pulses. Farmers responded to the need by increasing the cultivated area by 50%. Since then, with rising incomes and better affordability, our consumption of pulses has increased significantly," Sitharaman said.
* HIGH-YIELDING SEEDS: National Mission on High Yielding Seeds will be launched, Sitharaman said. The mission will focus on strengthening the research ecosystem, on the targeted development and propagation of seeds with high yield, pest resistance and climate resilience, and on commercial availability of more than 100 seed varieties released since July 2024.
* COTTON PRODUCTIVITY: The minister also launched a 5-year mission for cotton productivity, "which will facilitate significant improvements in productivity and sustainability of cotton farming, and promote extra-long staple cotton varieties," she said. The mission, aligned with the government's integrated vision for the textile sector, is aimed at helping increase incomes of farmers, and ensuring a steady supply of quality cotton "for rejuvenating India's traditional textile sector," Sitharaman said.
* The Securities and Exchange Board of India has extended the suspension of derivatives trade in wheat, chana, moong, paddy (non-basmati), mustard seeds and its derivatives, soybean and crude palm oil till Mar. 31, the regulator said in a release on Friday.
* The government has raised the sugar sales quota for February for sugar-producing state, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, according to a Department of Food and Public Distribution notification. The all-India quota for the month has already been set at 2.25 million tonnes, unchanged from last month, but down 2.2% on year from 2.30 million tonnes last February. The sales quota for Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh was raised nearly 0.3% and 0.6% to 821,072 tonnes and 690,255 tonnes, respectively. However, the quota for Karnataka, another major sugar producer, was cut 4.9% to 404,237 tonnes for February. The government fixes the maximum quantity of sugar available for sale every month to support prices and help mills clear the arrears of sugarcane farmers.
* Rabi sowing in Telangana was up 22% at 5.8 million acres as of Jan. 29, from 4.7 million acres during the same period last year, according to a release by the Department of Agriculture, Telangana. The normal acreage for the season in the state is 6.35 million acres (1 acre = 0.4 hectares), of which 91% has been covered, the report said.
* Sowing of rabi crops in Andhra Pradesh has progressed to 1.6 million hectares as of Wednesday, up 16.6% on year from 1.4 million hectares sown during the same period last year, according to a report released by the state's Department of Agriculture. Chana acreage in the state rose by 4.3% to 292,000 hectares from 280,000 hectares last year.
* The Indian Sugar Mills & Bio-Energy Manufacturers Association sees sugar production in the sugar year 2024-25 (Oct-Sep) at 27.3 million tonnes, down 14.4% on year from 31.9 million tonnes in 2023-24, according to its second advance estimate.
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