Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from June, 2019

Indian Corn Markets Hinge on Acreage Battle

Maize prices are on the boil on reports of the lower crop in the Kharif 2018 season. With the prices at an all-time high, the poultry-feed and starch industries, which rely heavily on this grain, are facing tough times. Shortage of raw material has led to high production costs and under-utilization of capacities with the starch industry fearing the shutting down of plants. The maize crop has been hit by drought and pests leading to the shortage.  Maize, popularly known as corn is one of the emerging food cash crops & third largest cereal in the country after rice and wheat. As per the second advance estimates of kharif production released by the government in February, production of maize is expected to be 27.80 million tonnes in 2018-19, down from the previous year’s 28.72 million tonnes. The infestation of the dreaded pest Fall Army Worm (FAW) (Spodoptera frugiperda), coupled with weak monsoon rains witnessed in key producing States such as Karnataka and Telangana have