Chana futures gain 0.96% on strong demand.

Chana prices went up by 0.96 per cent to Rs 4,212 per quintal in futures trade, as participants enlarged their positions, tracking a firm trend at the spot market on surging demand. Expanding of positions by traders on the back of strong demand in view of ongoing festive season and increased offtake by dal mills in the physical market mainly attributed the rise in chana prices at futures trade.

Delayed monsoon withdrawal to benefit rabi sowing.

The delayed southwest monsoon withdrawal will benefit winter (rabi) crops like wheat and mustard, the sowing of which has kick started in pockets of Rajasthan. The sowing of rabi crops wheat, barley, gram, lentil, rapeseed, mustard and safflower normally begins from October through February and harvesting starts from March. The crop yields are dependent on soil moisture and its availability to support plant growth. Because of departure rains, there is adequate soil moisture in some state to begin rabi sowing. This year, the withdrawal of monsoon from most parts of India is almost a month behind the normal schedule of September 1. With favourable soil conditions, farmers in Rajasthan have already started planting the mustard crop and sowing of other rabi crops will begin in the coming weeks.

Govt source says tur, urad futures likely to make a comeback soon.

The government is likely to lift a decade-old ban on trading of futures contracts in urad and tur. Ministry of Consumer Affairs and NITI Aayog are in favour of allowing trading of urad and tur futures contracts. The government is also expected to give permission for the same soon and later a proposal in this regard would be sent to the SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India). Trading of futures contracts of these pulses will aid in price discovery and better realisation. Domestic prices of pulses have been under pressure following successive bumper harvests over the past few years.

Fair price shops in Odisha to distribute rice through e-PoS.

The State Government has directed all Collectors to ensure that rice for families under the newly launched State Food Security Scheme (SFSS) is distributed through e-PoS (Point of Sales) devices. Distribution of stocks at fair price shops will be made only through e-PoS devices. Manual mode of distribution can be resorted to only after approval from ADM, BDO or CSO with proper justification. While the fair price shops have been asked to complete distribution of rice for the months of October and November by October 25. As per the scheme, each beneficiary family will get five kg of rice per person at Re 1 a kilo. The rice would be released only to fair price shops which have valid FPS license for the financial year 2018-19.

Brazil grain production to rise on bumper corn crop -Conab.

Brazilian farmers are expected to harvest up to 238.54 million tonnes of grain in the 2018/19 season, with the South American country potentially breaking its production record thanks to expected corn and soy bumper crops. In the prior season, Brazilian farmers harvested some 227.91 million tonnes of grains like soybeans and corn. Much of the gain is expected to be in corn, with output expected to rise as much as 12.75 percent to 91.08 million tonnes, Conab said in its first forecast for the 2018/19 season, which kicked off in September. Brazil’s soybean output could total 119.42 million tonnes in 2019, roughly in line with this year’s record of 119.28 million tonnes, Conab said. Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of soy. Levels of farm credit, strong fertilizer sales and the intention of farmers to plant at least 61 million hectares (150 million acres) of grain all indicate a strong harvest. Recent bumper crops have been eagerly sought by China, whose demand for Brazilian grains skyrocketed this year as a result of the country’s trade war with the United States.Conab expects Brazil to export 76 million tonnes of soybeans in 2018, an all-time high since records began, and 75 million tonnes in 2019.