"So far crop conditions are good," JNL Srivastava, special secretary in theagriculture ministry, told Reuters.

"We are expecting a very good crop." The government has set a wheat outputtarget of 74 million tonnes for 1999/2000. The country produced a record 73million tonnes of wheat in 1998/99. Srivastava said his ministry had set acultivation area target of 25.5 million hectares, the same as last year."The crop area is not expected to rise but we expect productivity to risethis year because of better supply of seeds and fertilisers," Srivastavasaid.

He said bright sunshine and cool weather had helped sowing in the northernstates of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, and the central province of MadhyaPradesh.

He said sowing was over in about four million hectares in Uttar Pradesh,1.25 million hectares in Punjab and 1.1 million hectares in Madhya Pradesh. "So far we have covered sowing in 7.56 million hectares in the country,"Srivastava said. "We expect to complete sowing by the end of December."

Excess stocks worrying
Government officials said they were worried that a record crop could lead tosurplus. "Harvesting a good crop is not a problem. Putting the crop toproper use is what we should worry about," said another agriculture ministry official. Consumer affairs and public distribution minister ShantaKumarsaid that the government currently has 8.8 million tonnes of wheat stocks inexcess of the required norm.

"We are concerned about this. We should find ways to dispose of the stocks.Some of the wheat lying in the warehouses is two or three years old," Kumarsaid. Ironically, while the nation's warehouses are bulging with stocks,flour millers in southern India are importing wheat because they find itcheaper than transporting wheat from the northern states.

Import duties could be a prospect
A consumer affairs ministry official said the government could either imposea substantial duty on wheat imports or impose a temporary ban on importsuntil domestic stocks are used.

"The government is also thinking of a way to make wheat available insouthern India at a cheaper price. The decision is expected during thecurrent parliament session," the official, who asked not to be identified,said.

Agriculture analysts said the food ministry should explore the possibilityof exporting its excess wheat, even if at "throwaway prices".

"We should aim to salvage at least something instead of our wheat rotting inwarehouses," said a Mumbai-based commodity analyst, who also requestedanonymity. "Now we don't have place to store the new wheat harvest when itstarts arriving in February."