Oct. 21, 2004 INDIA - Late rains in key oilseed-growing regions haveimproved the prospects of India's winter crop and the resultant soilmoisture would boost the size of the summer crop, traders said onWednesday. The winter crop is sown in July and harvested by late November,while the summer crop is ready for harvest in April. Groundnut and soybeanare the main winter crops, while rapeseed forms bulk of the summer crop. "We are in for a bumper summer crop," said Sandeep Bajoria, president ofthe Central Organisation for Oil Industry and Trade. "We might surpasslast year's summer oilseed crop size of 10 million tonnes." India, theworld's top edible oil buyer, imports 40 percent of its annual needs of 11million tonnes. It buys palm oils from Malaysia and Indonesia and softoils from Argentina and Brazil. The oilseed sector in India, the world'sfourth-largest vegetable oil producer, has a turnover of about $15 billiona year. The country has 1,500 oil mills, 600 solvent extraction units and500 refining units. Traders said winter oilseed output was expected to beat least a million tonnes lower than last year's 13.9 million tonnes dueto erratic rains in the middle of the June-September monsoon season.Sowing in oilseed-growing states including Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh andMaharashtra was delayed and staggered, and those states got almost no rainat all during the sowing month of July. But late rains in September andearly October have made up for that shortfall to some extent and the soilmoisture would help the next summer crop, traders said. The farm ministrysaid crop scientists have advised farmers to make the best use of themoisture, recommending early sowing of mustard and rapeseed in thenorthern plains. Bajoria said late rains have helped sowing of summercrops, mainly rapeseed in the largest-growing state of Rajasthan.