Major wheat growing states like Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Madhya Pradesh (MP) are likely to face seed shortages in the coming six-month rabi season that begins next month. In UP alone the seed shortage is estimated to be 50,488 quintal while in MP the shortage is much more at 176,925 quintal. The demand for certified wheat seeds in the country for this rabi has been put at 2,919,550 quintals by the Centre.

Sweetlime prices fall

Bumper crop of mosambis (sweet lime) has resulted in nearly 50 per cent drop in the fruit's prices in southern markets, over last year. Consequently, the realisation for the farmers has come down from Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 per tonne last year to Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 per tonne this year (a tonne consists of about 5,000 mosambis of assorted sizes). The season for mosambis starts in August and goes on till November.

Potato prices slump in Tamil Nadu

Good news for potato lovers but not so for the dealers. Prices of thisstuffy vegetable have slipped by about Rs 3 per kg during the last fortnight in the local markets of Tamil Nadu. The wholesale price, which was between Rs 5 and Rs 6 a kg, is now ruling at Rs 2 to Rs 3 a kg. Further decline in the prices are anticipated in the coming days.

Cardamom, turmeric output rise

Farm experiments has helped agronomists boost manifold the productivity of both cardamom and turmeric using the integrated crop management (ICM) techniques. Also, the drip irrigation methods used in the experiments of cardamom help farmers to reap round the year crop with the required moisture available throughout the year. When commercialised, this cardamom crop with ICM is capable of giving severe competition to Gautemala, which is currently India's main competitor.

Cardamom prices steady

Cardamom prices were steady as export inquiries continued to rise. Price of cardamom at the auction centres in Kerala and Tamil Nadu continued to hold steady during the week because of increased exportinquiries. At least three buyers are reportedly active at the auction centres and outside buying for exports to countries in the Gulf region and to Japan, trade sources told The Financial Express.

Declining trend dominates tea auctions

There has been a overall decline of 14.20 per cent in tea prices at the all-India level during January to July, 1999 as compared to the corresponding period last year. As per the latest figures of the Tea Board furnished at its September 16 meeting, the average of total tea sold at North and South Indian auctions during the six-month period January to July this year, registered a substantial decline of 10.75 per cent and 22.26 per cent respectively.

Gold on the comeback trail

Doomsday predictions are back in vogue. September 9, 1999, was supposed to witness damage to all computers due to a glitch in Cobol software programming. It was said to be the sneak preview of the real thing to be unleashed by the Y2K bug on December 31, 1999. Then, only lastmonth, when all the planets were aligned in a straight line, astrologers and soothsayers predicted the end of the world.

Domestic ball bearing units hit

Overall improvement in the economic conditions in the country has increased the incidence of smuggling of ball bearings over the past couple of months in the country, using one of the time tested methods of underinvoicing of the consignments. This has prevented the local manufacturers from increasing the prices of their products, even when the overall costs have gone up by around 15-20 per cent.

Paint sector will survive onslaught

Despite the devastating effects of liberalisation, and the future threat of WTO, the much touted death of the decorative paint industry in the SSI sector will not happen. This refreshingly contrarian view was offered by Asian Paints' Vivek Subramanian, responsible for the company's marketing operations. In the annual VSKD Nadar Memorial Workshop organised in Chennai under the auspices of the Indian PaintAssociation, chairman DG Rajan (southern region) said that the small industries would have to address foreseeable problems and opportunities if they wished to live long in the next millennium.

Polymer prices up by 14-22%

Polymer prices increased substantially in the third quarter of 1999, to reach the levels in early 1998. Early this month, international prices of polymers increased by around 14-22 per cent, over those in July 1999. Domestic polymer producers increased prices (especially of polyethylene and polypropylene, in two phases - early September and mid-September -- by around 11-19 per cent, in response to the increase in the international prices.

Spinners hike output

Productivity improvement is the new mantra for cotton spinners looking for ways to arrest declining profits. The south-based spinning industry, hit by high labour cost and low productivity levels, has taken up labour rationalisation seriously. In fact, productivity improvement through training to bring down labourcost is an area identified by the Southern India Mills' Association (Sima) for it's three-point long-term strategy. According to Sitra studies, spinning mills have realised the need to cut labour cost drastically to maintain a healthier bottomline. ``In order to operate profitably under the present high conversion cost structure characterised by high cotton and power costs, the only course open to mills is to maintain salaries and wages component at less than 10 per cent of sales.