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REUTERS & AGENCIES
Nitrogenous fertiliser output falls in July
India's nitrogenous fertiliser production was estimated at 943,000 tonnes in July, down slightly from 951,000 tonnes in the same month of 1998, the government said in a statement on Monday. It said phosphatic fertiliser output was seen at 272,000 tonnes in July compared to 273,000 tonnes in July 1998.
The statement said the decline in output was due to ``equipment problems'' at various plants. Cumulative production of fertilisers in April-July 1999 was tentatively estimated as 3.44 million tonnes of nitrogenous output and 1.01 million tonnes of phosphatic fertilisers. The statement said in the same period of the previous year, production totalled 3.23 million tonnes and 908,000 tonnes respectively.
Availability (or supplies) of di-ammonium phosphate in the April to June period was 2.54 million tonnes, up 13 per cent from the same period of the previous year, it said. Cumulative availability of murate of potassium by the end of July 1999 was 1.09 milliontonnes compared to 430,000 tonnes in the same period of 1998, the statement added. In July, about 154,000 tonnes of urea had been imported, taking the cumulative imports to 228,000 tonnes.
PAU plan to boost crop yield
Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) will undertake a Rs 1.36 crore project for increasing yield and efficient use of inputs of crops, including wheat. The four-year project ``development of bed-planting system'' is being funded by the Indian Council of Agriculture Research under its national agricultural technology project, PAU research director KS Aulakh said on Monday.``The project will see participation by senior scientists of the varsity. PAU would be the lead centre and its senior faculty member SS Dhillon would be the lead principal investigator. Haryana Agricultural University and Indian Agriculture Research Institute will function as the cooperating centres,'' he told newspersons in Faridot.
The main objective of the project is to study the potentialities of bed-plantingsystem in improving crop productivity and environmental quality as well as economising costly and scarce inputs of water, fertiliser, seed and wedicides under varied soil, crop and climatic conditions, Aulakh pointed out.
Textile exports up 1.6%
India's textile exports recorded a 1.6 per cent growth in the first four months of the current fiscal powered by an impressive 10.1 per cent growth in cotton yarn exports. As per the provisional figures of export promotion councils and commodity boards, overall textile exports stood at 4.09 billion dollars (Rs 17608.5 crore).
Garment exports rose by 5.1 per cent to 1.7 billion dollars while handicrafts exports grew by 10.1 per cent to 530.8 million dollars. A series of measures taken by the government in the past one year to boost cotton yarn exports and revival of South-East Asian economies spurred yarn shipments, which had fared badly last fiscal, an official release said.
During the period, export of silk and man-made textiles also went up, whilecotton fabrics, made- ups, wool and woollens, jute and coir recorded negative export growth as against the previous financial year.
Pak vegoil imports to be slow
Pakistan vegoil imports are likely to remain slow this week as importers stay away in anticipation of further falls to current low international prices, dealers said on Monday.``Traders have covered their positions after India-led buying pushed up prices (last week). I think they will go slow for now,'' said a dealer at Jaleel Brothers Ltd, Akbar Puri.
Malaysian palm oil prices fell by midday on Monday in a technical adjustment to strong gains last week and dealers expect more losses. Palm oil prices rallied sharply last week on active speculation and short covering, prompted by prospects of more demand from India and China in coming months.``Indian buying has slowed down and markets are likely to be depressed,'' dealer Saulat Khan, at another vegoil trading firm said.
He said importers could refrain from booking huge orders in thecoming week as they await prices to drop further. For example, international prices fell from a high of $500 a tonne in April to $300 in July and importers would now cautiously watch the current price trend before entering the market, traders said. Traders said Pakistan imported 45,000 tonnes of palm oil from August 1 to 20.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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