22/1/2006 New Delhi (Daily Times)  -   India, the world’s leading edible oil importer, is likely to harvest a bigger summer crop because of ample soil moisture and an increase in the area under oilseeds cultivation, an industry association said on Saturday.

The summer oilseed crops forecast comes after the country harvested a good winter crop of mainly soybean and groundnut because of ample monsoon rains.

The Central Organisation for Oil Industry and Trade (COOIT) forecast the summer crop would be 10.14 million tonnes, a rise of six percent from 9.57 million tonnes in the previous summer.

Production of rapeseed, the season’s main crop, is expected to increase to 6.7 million tonnes from 6.25 million a year ago.

Groundnut output is likely to be 1.6 million tonnes, similar to the previous year’s output, COOIT said in its first advance estimates.

Total oilseed production in 2005/06 (October-September) is forecast at 23.51 million tonnes compared with 21.93 million tonnes in the previous year.

“It is a reasonable estimate because of better area coverage of rapeseed in this season,” said G.G. Patel, a leading groundnut trader in India’s western state of Gujarat.

The global vegetable oil industry watches COOIT’s estimates closely as India’s domestic oilseed output impacts vegetable oil imports, mainly from Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil and Argentina.

India grows two oilseed crops, mainly soybean and groundnut in the winter season, and rapeseed and groundnut in the summer season. Winter crops are sown in June and harvesting begins in September, while summer crops are grown between November and March.

The June-September monsoon season usually impacts both winter and summer crops. Rainfall in 2005 was normal at 99 percent of the long-term average.

“The weather has been favourable but we have not got the rains that we expected in January,” said Ajay Tandon, a senior COOIT official. The acreage under mustard and rapeseed has increased to 7.3 million hectares this season from 6.7 million hectares a year ago, according to the farm ministry.

COOIT said edible oil imports were likely to be 4.5-5.0 million tonnes in 2005/06 compared with 4.8 million tonnes in the previous year.

India, which imports some 40 percent of its annual needs of 11 million tonnes of edible oil, is the world’s fourth-largest vegetable oil producer. The country buys palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia and soy oil from Brazil and Argentina.

India also grows sunflower, linseeds, safflower and sesameseed in smaller amounts. reuters