This week in Indian agriculture
Government buying set the pace this week: Punjab's paddy purchase passed 100 lakh tonnes and Haryana's crossed 30 lakh tonnes, while the Centre kept cotton imports duty-free for two more months. The new sugar season opened with 107 mills crushing, but rabi sowing ran well behind last year on dry soil, with mustard area down sharply. Wheat held near ₹3,100 in Delhi and Indore as FCI sales started early, and onion stayed firm at Lasalgaon ahead of the late kharif crop.
Mandi price table — Week of 26 October – 1 November 2026
| Crop | Mandi | Rates this week (₹ per quintal) | Against MSP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Onion | Lasalgaon, Nashik (MH) | Daily average ₹4,050–4,350 (26–29 Oct); ₹4,350 on 29 Oct | No MSP |
| Soybean (new crop) | Indore (MP) | Daily average ₹6,730–7,175 (26–30 Oct); ₹6,925 on 30 Oct | Above MSP ₹5,708 |
| Wheat | Indore (MP) | Daily average ₹3,085–3,146 (26–30 Oct); ₹3,085 on 30 Oct | Above MSP ₹2,585 |
| Chana (gram) | Indore (MP) | Average ₹7,313 on 30 Oct (lots ₹5,140–7,755) | Well above MSP ₹5,875 |
| Cotton kapas | Rajkot (GJ) | Daily average ₹9,300–9,600 (26–31 Oct); ₹9,300 on 31 Oct | Above MSP ₹8,667 (long staple) |
| Groundnut | Rajkot (GJ) | Daily average ₹7,875–8,063 (26–31 Oct); ₹7,938 on 31 Oct | Above MSP ₹7,517 |
| Maize | Davangere (KA) | Daily average ₹3,031–3,260 (27–30 Oct); ₹3,260 on 30 Oct | Above MSP ₹2,410 |
| Dry red chilli | Guntur (AP) | Daily average ₹24,300–24,400 (26–30 Oct); ₹24,400 on 30 Oct | No MSP |
| Turmeric | Nizamabad (TS) | Daily average ₹20,694–21,593 (26–29 Oct); ₹16,981 on 30 Oct | No MSP |
| Paddy (common / Grade A) | Haryana & Punjab mandis | Government buying at MSP | MSP ₹2,441 / ₹2,461 |
Daily mandi rates as reported in Agmarknet data for 26–31 October 2026, in rupees per quintal. Rates vary by lot and quality; they are reference figures only, not quotes. MSP shown for comparison where the crop has one. This week's source combines varieties into one daily figure; chana (Indore) has a figure for one day only.
Punjab's paddy purchase crosses 100 lakh tonnes, with ₹20,713 crore paid
State agencies in Punjab had bought a little under 102 lakh tonnes of paddy by 30 October, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak said after a review meeting in Chandigarh. Payments of about ₹20,713 crore had reached the bank accounts of some 4.71 lakh farmers, and more than 2,500 mandis were open for buying. Grade A paddy is being bought at the MSP of ₹2,461 a quintal. The state's target for the season is 180 lakh tonnes, so a little over half has been bought with the peak of arrivals now under way. The minister said the state would reach the target comfortably. Punjab is the largest single supplier of rice to the central pool, and its pace of buying, lifting and milling decides how quickly rice moves into FCI godowns over the winter.
Haryana buys 30.7 lakh tonnes of paddy; agencies have lifted three-quarters of it
As of the morning of 26 October, about 37.3 lakh tonnes of paddy had reached Haryana's mandis this season and state agencies had bought 30.69 lakh tonnes of it, roughly 53 per cent of the 58 lakh tonnes the Centre expects from the state. Around 2.22 lakh farmers had sold paddy, and MSP payments of about ₹4,264 crore had been made. Lifting had reached 23.34 lakh tonnes, about 76 per cent of what was bought. The Food and Civil Supplies Department bought the most at 16.53 lakh tonnes, followed by HAFED at 9.29 lakh tonnes and the warehousing corporation at 4.87 lakh tonnes. Kurukshetra, Kaithal and Karnal were the largest districts by arrivals. Private traders had bought about 38,770 tonnes at an average of ₹2,516 a quintal, a little above the Grade A MSP of ₹2,461.
Cotton imports stay duty-free for two more months, until 31 December
The Finance Ministry issued Customs notification 35/2026, dated 30 October, moving the end date of the cotton import duty exemption from 31 October to 31 December 2026. The waiver of the 11 per cent duty was first given on 30 May for five months. The textile ministry announced the extension on 31 October, saying it would ease raw material supply and input costs for spinners and garment units, especially smaller ones, while keeping farmers' interests in view. The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry said home supply has not kept pace with mill needs. Trade estimates put the 2026-27 crop at about 29 million bales of 170 kg, with lower yields reported in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka after weak rain and heat. Some traders had argued that imports during harvest could weigh on farm prices.
New sugar season opens with 107 mills crushing; early output near 4 lakh tonnes
The Indian Sugar and Bio-energy Manufacturers Association said on 26 October that the 2026-27 season had begun on time, with 107 mills crushing cane. Around 87 of them are in Maharashtra, two have started in Uttar Pradesh, and 17 more are running in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Gujarat. Western UP mills were expected to start within days, with central and eastern UP following as cane matures. Output had reached about 4 lakh tonnes by 25 October, compared with about 60,000 tonnes on the same date a year earlier. The 2025-26 season closed with about 36 lakh tonnes of stock carried forward. The association said this carry-over, new production, the longer duty-free raw sugar import window and stock limits on traders should keep supplies adequate through the festive months.
Rabi sowing runs 37% behind last year as dry soil holds back mustard
Agriculture Ministry figures reported on 26 October showed rabi crops on about 17.78 lakh hectares so far, against 28.16 lakh hectares at the same point last year, a fall of about 37 per cent. Mustard, the main early-sown rabi oilseed, covered about 13.10 lakh hectares, down 38 per cent from 21.03 lakh hectares. Low soil moisture after a weak monsoon and unusually warm days were given as the main reasons. Rajasthan, the largest mustard state, has a large rain shortfall, though some districts got local showers; Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat are also short of rain. Punjab and Haryana, by contrast, had surplus rain. Sowing continues into December, and most wheat is planted from mid-November, so the gap can still narrow. The government's wheat target for the season is 121 million tonnes.
Early FCI wheat sales find strong demand as Delhi wheat touches ₹3,100
The Food Corporation of India began weekly open market sales of wheat on 14 October this year, about a month earlier than in 2025. A market review published on 26 October found that buyers took about 1.87 lakh tonnes of the 2.13 lakh tonnes offered in the first two auctions, or about 88 per cent; last year's first two rounds sold only 37 per cent. Winning bids in Punjab and Haryana rose to roughly ₹2,860–3,065 a quintal in the second round against a reserve price of ₹2,585. Delhi wheat reached ₹3,100 on 21 October and about ₹3,110 the next day. FCI's wheat stock on 1 October was about 465 lakh tonnes, much higher than the 320 lakh tonnes a year earlier. At Indore, mandi wheat averaged about ₹3,085–3,146 through the week.
Fertiliser stocks cover more than twice October's need, though DAP is the tightest
Figures as of 16 October, published on 27 October, put total fertiliser available for the rabi 2026-27 season at about 199.5 lakh tonnes, against an October requirement of 88.3 lakh tonnes and a full-season need of about 381 lakh tonnes. Sales had reached 24.2 lakh tonnes, leaving a closing stock of about 175.3 lakh tonnes. Urea availability stood at 85.6 lakh tonnes, NPK complexes at 49.3 lakh tonnes, DAP at 30 lakh tonnes, SSP at 23 lakh tonnes and MOP at 11.6 lakh tonnes. DAP had the thinnest cover, with closing stock only about 1.2 times its October requirement, though its opening stock was 3.19 lakh tonnes higher than last year. National totals do not show whether supplies are spread evenly across districts, which is where shortages are usually felt.
Onion firm at Lasalgaon; turmeric drops sharply on the last trading day
Agmarknet figures for the week show the daily average for onion at Lasalgaon rising from ₹4,050 a quintal on 26 October to ₹4,350 on 29 October, with top lots near ₹5,000. Traders had earlier said large kharif arrivals from Nashik may come only around 10 November, after Diwali, while supplies from Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan pick up. Elsewhere, Rajkot cotton slipped steadily from ₹9,600 to ₹9,300 over the week, still above the MSP of ₹8,667, and Indore soybean held between about ₹6,730 and ₹7,175, well above its ₹5,708 MSP. Davangere maize firmed to about ₹3,260. Turmeric at Nizamabad averaged about ₹21,000–21,600 for most of the week but fell to about ₹16,981 on 30 October, a one-day drop that may reflect the quality of lots on offer.
Adilabad cotton growers seek a bonus and crop insurance after poor yields
Farmer groups in Adilabad district of Telangana, led by Raithu Swarajya Vedika, asked the state and Centre on 29 October for help after cotton and other kharif crops failed in the dry, hot season linked to El Niño. They said growers spent about ₹40,000 an acre on cotton and want a per-quintal bonus like the ₹500 Telangana gives paddy farmers for fine rice varieties. Their other demands were crop insurance coverage, which they said has not been available in the state since 2020, input support of ₹6,000 an acre for tenant farmers, monthly aid of ₹2,500 for farm labourers and early release of Rythu Bharosa payments. Earlier in the month private traders in Adilabad were paying above the cotton MSP, which kept CCI centres quiet in the district.
Earlier weeks
Week of 19–25 October 2026 · Week of 12–18 October 2026
Earlier week
A week of supply measures against a weak crop year. The Centre gave sugar importers two more months for duty-free raw sugar and kept sugar out of the new ethanol tender, Haryana's paddy buying passed 24 lakh tonnes, and the first new red onion reached Lasalgaon. Cotton buying opened in Telangana with private traders paying above MSP, Indian refiners bought palm oil heavily before Diwali, rubber hit a record, and reservoirs in the south stayed low as the northeast monsoon brought heavy rain to Tamil Nadu.
Mandi price table — Week of 19–25 October 2026
| Crop | Mandi | Rates this week (₹ per quintal) | Against MSP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Onion (Unhali) | Lasalgaon, Nashik (MH) | Daily average ₹4,000–4,225 (21–23 Oct); ₹4,000 on 23 Oct | No MSP |
| Onion (new red, kharif) | Lasalgaon, Nashik (MH) | First lots 22 Oct: ₹2,401–3,400, average ₹2,501 | No MSP |
| Soybean (new crop) | Indore (MP) | Daily average ₹6,980–7,125 (21–24 Oct); ₹7,100 on 24 Oct | Above MSP ₹5,708 |
| Wheat | Indore (MP) | ₹2,971–3,566, average ₹3,061 on 24 Oct | Above MSP ₹2,585 |
| Cotton kapas (Narma BT) | Rajkot (GJ) | Daily average ₹9,325–9,575; ₹9,575 on 24 Oct | Above MSP ₹8,667 (long staple) |
| Groundnut (G20 / Bold) | Rajkot (GJ) | G20 average ₹8,050–8,385, Bold ₹7,750–8,450; G20 ₹8,125 on 24 Oct | Above MSP ₹7,517 |
| Dry red chilli | Guntur (AP) | Average ₹26,000–27,500 (21–23 Oct) | No MSP |
| Turmeric (bulb / finger) | Nizamabad (TS) | 23 Oct: bulb average ₹19,666; finger average ₹22,666 | No MSP |
| Paddy (common / Grade A) | Haryana & Punjab mandis | Government buying at MSP | MSP ₹2,441 / ₹2,461 |
Daily mandi rates as reported in Agmarknet data for 19–24 October 2026, in rupees per quintal. Rates vary by lot and quality; they are reference figures only, not quotes. MSP shown for comparison where the crop has one. Maize (Davangere) and chana (Indore) are left out this week because no figures for these dates were found.
Duty-free raw sugar window stretched to 31 December as the crop comes in smaller
The Finance Ministry issued a fresh notification on 22 October giving importers two more months to bring in raw sugar without duty. The window covers up to 10 lakh tonnes under a tariff rate quota first opened in August, and was due to close on 31 October; it now runs to 31 December 2026. So far only about 2.6 lakh tonnes have arrived, partly because Indian sugar was cheaper than world sugar for much of the period. The extension comes as the output estimate for the 2025-26 marketing year has been lowered to about 306 lakh tonnes from 343 lakh tonnes, against yearly demand of about 280–285 lakh tonnes. The government has also put stock limits on traders and set up a committee to review cane prices and the minimum selling price of sugar.
New ethanol tender leaves out cane and sugar, and pays less for maize ethanol
BPCL, buying for the state oil companies, has asked for about 11 billion litres of ethanol for the supply year from November 2026 to October 2027, enough to keep petrol at 20 per cent blending. This time no offers were invited for ethanol made from cane juice, sugar syrup or B-heavy molasses; the tender says sugar diversion to ethanol should be cut to zero for the year. Only maize, broken rice, surplus FCI rice and C-heavy molasses can be used. The price for maize-based ethanol has also been lowered to ₹68.86 a litre from ₹71.86, which cuts the extra incentive for maize distillers from ₹5.79 to ₹2.79 a litre. The reason given is the weak monsoon in Maharashtra and Karnataka and its effect on sugar supply.
Haryana's paddy purchase reaches 24.9 lakh tonnes with ₹3,447 crore paid to farmers
By 21 October, about 30.3 lakh tonnes of paddy had come into Haryana's mandis, a little over half of the 58 lakh tonnes the Centre expects the state to supply this season. State agencies had bought about 24.9 lakh tonnes of it at MSP, and ₹3,447 crore had been paid straight into farmers' bank accounts. Common paddy carries an MSP of ₹2,441 a quintal and Grade A ₹2,461 this year. In Punjab, the largest supplier to the central pool, the state is aiming to buy 180 lakh tonnes this season, and the RBI has released a cash credit limit of about ₹42,787 crore to fund the purchase. Lifting of paddy from mandis and space for milled rice remain the main worries for traders and millers in both states.
First new red onion reaches Lasalgaon while stored onion firms up
The season's first lots of new kharif red onion arrived at Lasalgaon on 22 October, only three vehicles in all. They sold between ₹2,401 and ₹3,400 a quintal, with most lots near ₹2,500. Stored summer onion, which still makes up nearly all arrivals, went the other way: it sold between ₹900 and about ₹4,570, with an average of ₹4,100, about ₹700 a quintal higher than the week before. Through 21 to 23 October the daily average for stored onion stayed between ₹4,000 and ₹4,225. Red onion comes in damp and does not keep well, so it is sold quickly, and the gap between new and old onion prices is expected to narrow as more of the new crop arrives through November.
CCI opens cotton buying in Adilabad but private traders pay more than MSP
The Cotton Corporation of India began its season's purchases in Telangana's Adilabad district on 22 October with 18 buying centres and 33 ginning mills lined up, but bought nothing on the first day. CCI cited the high moisture in the cotton brought in. Private buyers, meanwhile, paid up to ₹9,260 a quintal, the highest rate in the state, against the MSP of ₹8,667 for cotton at 8 per cent moisture. Adilabad has about 4.37 lakh acres under cotton this year and output of around 42 lakh quintals is expected. In Gujarat, the picture was similar: at Rajkot, the daily average for Narma BT kapas rose from about ₹9,325 on 19 October to ₹9,575 on 24 October, comfortably above the support price.
Indian refiners buy palm oil in bulk as it sells $300 a tonne below sunflower oil
Indian buyers have been booking about 20,000 to 30,000 tonnes of palm oil a day over the past two weeks, according to an executive at Patanjali Foods quoted by Bloomberg. The pull is price: palm oil is now about $300 a tonne cheaper than sunflower oil, one of the widest gaps in several years, and about $100 a tonne cheaper than soybean oil. Edible oil demand in India usually rises 10 to 15 per cent before Diwali, and this year most of that extra buying is going to palm. Sea freight has gone up by $15 to $20 a tonne in ten days without slowing purchases. Traders expect stocks of soft oils in India to run down over the next six to eight weeks, which would make more room for palm.
Natural rubber climbs to a record ₹290 a kilo
The price of RSS-4 sheet rubber in the Kerala market reached about ₹290 a kilo, the highest on record, as reported on 23 October. That is well above Bangkok rates of about ₹270 a kilo and international prices near ₹245, while Indian block rubber was quoted at about ₹273. Tyre makers have been buying steadily while supply from growers stays thin. Hot weather in the main rubber districts has made the tapping season uncertain, and high crude oil prices have pushed up the cost of synthetic rubber, which makes natural rubber more attractive to buyers. Brokerage analysts said the rise will squeeze tyre company margins unless they can raise selling prices, after some makers already reported lower margins in the April–June quarter.
Big reservoirs are 67 per cent full; the south is down to 42 per cent
The Central Water Commission's weekly bulletin showed the country's 178 major reservoirs holding about 67 per cent of their capacity, lower than at the same time last year and below the ten-year average, and down again from the week before. The gap is widest in the south, where storage is about 42 per cent of capacity. Dams in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are less than a third full, most large Tamil Nadu reservoirs are below a quarter, and the Aliyar dam is dry. The central region is the only one above 80 per cent, which helps wheat and gram in Madhya Pradesh. Water held now is what most canal-irrigated rabi crops will depend on through the winter, after a monsoon that ended with a shortfall.
Northeast monsoon brings heavy rain to Tamil Nadu; IMD watches a storm heading for Andhra
Heavy rain fell across Chennai and southern Tamil Nadu through the week as the northeast monsoon turned active. In Madurai district more than 140 acres of freshly planted paddy went under water, while some Cauvery delta farmers said the early showers were too patchy to carry the samba paddy crop. Burliyar in the Nilgiris recorded 250 mm in the 24 hours to Saturday morning. On 24 October the India Meteorological Department said a low-pressure system in the Bay of Bengal was likely to become a depression and then a cyclonic storm around 26 October, moving towards the Andhra Pradesh coast by the morning of 28 October. Rain over Tamil Nadu is expected to ease from 27 October.
Earlier week
A week shaped by the weak monsoon. Food inflation jumped on onion, soybean and Rajasthan crop estimates came in mixed, Maharashtra cut its sugar forecast and started crushing early, paddy buying gathered pace in Haryana and Punjab, edible oil imports slowed, and the government kept moving buffer onion by train to the North-East.
Mandi price table — Week of 12–18 October 2026
| Crop | Mandi | Rates this week (₹ per quintal) | Against MSP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Onion (Unhali) | Lasalgaon, Nashik (MH) | Daily average ₹3,751–4,351; ₹4,000 on 17 Oct | No MSP |
| Soybean (new crop) | Indore (MP) | Daily average ₹6,500–6,995; ₹6,645 on 16 Oct | Above MSP ₹5,708 |
| Wheat | Indore (MP) | Most lots ₹2,500–3,500 | Above MSP ₹2,585 |
| Chana (gram) | Indore (MP) | Lots ₹6,510–8,300 | Well above MSP ₹5,875 |
| Cotton kapas (Narma BT) | Rajkot (GJ) | Daily average ₹9,275–9,450 | Above MSP ₹8,667 (long staple) |
| Groundnut (G20 / Bold) | Rajkot (GJ) | Average ₹7,400–8,025 (12–13 Oct) | Around MSP ₹7,517 |
| Maize | Davangere (KA) | Daily average ₹2,575–2,709 | Above MSP ₹2,410 |
| Dry red chilli | Guntur (AP) | Average ₹25,000–27,000 | No MSP |
| Turmeric (bulb / finger) | Nizamabad (TS) | Bulb ₹15,500–18,600; finger ₹16,500–21,320 | No MSP |
| Paddy (common / Grade A) | Haryana & Punjab mandis | Government buying at MSP | MSP ₹2,441 / ₹2,461 |
Daily mandi rates as reported in Agmarknet data for 12–17 October 2026, in rupees per quintal. Rates vary by lot and quality; they are reference figures only, not quotes. MSP shown for comparison where the crop has one.
Food inflation jumps to 7.7 per cent in September as onion prices more than double
Retail inflation rose to about 5.5 per cent in September from 4.8 per cent in August, and food was the main reason. Food inflation climbed to 7.7 per cent from 6 per cent. The sharpest move was in fresh vegetables, where inflation went from about 1 per cent to nearly 11 per cent in a single month, and within vegetables onion stood out: onion prices were more than double their level of a year ago, after a smaller rabi crop left less onion in storage. Pulses, cereals and edible oils all rose a little faster too, with edible oil inflation above 9 per cent as world vegetable oil prices kept climbing.
Lasalgaon onion holds near ₹40 a kilo; buffer onion goes by train to Tripura
At Lasalgaon in Nashik, India's best-known onion market, the daily average rate for stored summer onion moved between about ₹3,750 and ₹4,350 a quintal through the week, ending near ₹4,000. That is below the top rates of about ₹55 a kilo seen in September, but still high for the season. To spread supply, the Centre has been moving buffer-stock onion out of Maharashtra by road and by dedicated 'Kanda Express' trains; by early October more than 2 lakh quintals had gone to over 120 cities, and a fresh train carrying 440 tonnes was due in Agartala on 18 October for seven districts of Tripura. New kharif onion from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan is starting to reach the markets.
SOPA puts the 2026 soybean crop at 107.93 lakh tonnes, down 2 per cent
The Soybean Processors Association of India gave its first estimate of the new crop at the close of its international soybean conference in Indore. It expects about 107.9 lakh tonnes, against 110.3 lakh tonnes last year, even though the sown area grew by about 5 per cent to 117.7 lakh hectares. The reason is drought: nearly 7.8 lakh hectares were hit and could not be harvested. The picture differs sharply by state. Madhya Pradesh is expected to produce about 57 lakh tonnes, up nearly a third on better yields, and Rajasthan is also up strongly, while Maharashtra's crop is down by about a third after long dry spells, with losses also in Karnataka and Telangana.
Maharashtra cuts its sugar forecast to 90 lakh tonnes and starts crushing two weeks early
Maharashtra's sugar commissionerate lowered its estimate for the 2026-27 season to about 90.2 lakh tonnes, from 102.5 lakh tonnes forecast in September, because of poor rainfall in the cane belt. Last season the state made a little over 99 lakh tonnes. The cane area is still more than 15.4 lakh hectares, but expected cane output is lower, at around 1,127 lakh tonnes. Mills were allowed to start crushing on 15 October instead of 1 November. The sugar mills' association ISMA had already warned that drought in Maharashtra and Karnataka left little room for exports next year.
Haryana buys 15.5 lakh tonnes of paddy; Punjab aims for 180 lakh tonnes
By 15 October, Haryana's mandis had received about 21.3 lakh tonnes of paddy, of which government agencies had bought 15.5 lakh tonnes and lifted about 7.7 lakh tonnes. Farmers had been paid about ₹1,221 crore. Buying runs from 29 September to 15 November through 249 mandis, against a target of 58 lakh tonnes. In Punjab, where purchase began on 1 October against a target of 180 lakh tonnes, arrivals had crossed 8.5 lakh tonnes in the first week. The support price this season is ₹2,441 a quintal for common paddy and ₹2,461 for Grade A. Lifting from the mandis remains slower than buying, the usual pinch point of the season.
Edible oil imports fall 7 per cent in September; refined oil almost disappears
The Solvent Extractors' Association reported that India imported about 15.4 lakh tonnes of edible oil in September, about 7 per cent less than a year ago. Sunflower oil fell sharply, to about 1 lakh tonnes from 2.7 lakh tonnes. For the oil year from November to September, imports were about 151.6 lakh tonnes, up 3 per cent. The bigger change is in what comes in: refined oil is now only about 5 per cent of imports, against 12 per cent a year earlier, and crude oil makes up the rest, which means more of the refining is happening in Indian plants.
Rajasthan: bajra and guar down after a dry monsoon; groundnut and moong up
Figures from Rajasthan's agriculture department show the dry monsoon's uneven effect. Bajra area fell to about 39.6 lakh hectares from 43.5 lakh, and output is expected near 49 lakh tonnes, down from 54 lakh. Guar, grown mostly in the dry west of the state, which received very little rain, fell from about 19.7 lakh tonnes to 17.9 lakh tonnes, and guar prices rose early as a result. Groundnut did well, rising to about 28 lakh tonnes from 21 lakh, and moong was slightly higher. Officials said final numbers are not settled because mandi arrivals are still coming in.
Official kharif crop estimate still awaited after a 15 per cent rain shortfall
The government's first advance estimate of kharif output, normally released by the end of September, had still not appeared by mid-October. The monsoon ended about 15 per cent below normal, and 19 of the country's 36 weather subdivisions, covering about half of its area, received too little rain. Market commentators expect lower rice area, weaker pulses and smaller soybean and groundnut crops than last year, and some analysts project pulse imports of around 7.5 million tonnes and edible oil imports of 16 to 17 million tonnes in the coming year. Rice is better placed than other crops because government stocks are large, at around 40 million tonnes.
Tur and urad stay firm; decision on cheaper lentil and pea imports still pending
Pulse prices remained firm after rainfall in the main pulse states ran as much as 30 per cent below normal. Traders at a recent Mumbai meeting expected tur to cross ₹10,000 a quintal before the new crop arrives in January, against a support price of ₹8,450, and urad to go above ₹10,000. Reports earlier in the month said the government was considering lower import duties on masoor, now at 10 per cent, and yellow peas, now at 30 per cent, while keeping the duty on chana so that farmers still have reason to sow it this rabi season. Tur and urad can already be imported duty-free until March 2027. No decision had been announced by the end of the week.
Rabi sowing begins with a ₹25 rise in wheat MSP and fertiliser stocks at a two-year high
With the kharif harvest under way, farmers are preparing for the winter crop. The support prices fixed on 30 September for the 2027-28 marketing season raise wheat by only ₹25 to ₹2,610 a quintal, but give bigger increases to oilseeds and pulses: mustard up ₹413 to ₹6,613, masoor up ₹390 to ₹7,390 and safflower up ₹675. Chana rises ₹83 to ₹5,958. Fertiliser supply looks comfortable for the season's start, with total stocks of about 17 million tonnes, about 38 per cent more than a year ago, including about 8.3 million tonnes of urea and 3 million tonnes of DAP.