FARMERS CAN EXPECT BETTER SUNFLOWER PRICES DUE TO INCREASED MSP: PAU

LUDHIANA, JANUARY 30:



The Agricultural Market Intelligence Centre (AMIC) of the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has predicted the sunflower prices in the range of Rs 3500 - 3700 per quintal during May and June, 2013. The In-charge of AMIC, Dr Jagrup Singh Sidhu said that the Centre gathered and analyzed the market intelligence regarding sunflower from various sources to help the farmers to take sowing decisions. The government increased the minimum support price (MSP) of sunflower from Rs 2800 per quintal in 2011-12 to Rs 3700 per quintal in 2012-13, he told, informing that the prices of sunflower in the major markets of the state ruled around the MSP during 2011-12. Therefore, farmers should keep this information in view to plan their area under sunflower vis-a-vis other alternative crops like spring maize, moong, early summer vegetables, etc. by comparing their relative returns, he emphasized.



Revealing that in India, sunflower occupies the fourth place among oilseed crops in terms of acreage and production, Dr Sidhu said that the area under sunflower in the country was 2.50 million hectares with a production of five lakh tonnes during 2011-12. He further disclosed, "The major producers of sunflower are Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh which account for about 81 per cent of the area and about 90.27 per cent of production of the country. The total oilseed production in the country during 2011-12 is estimated at 35.6 million tonnes and total edible oil production during the same period was 11.5 million tonnes."
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