An atmosphere of great confusion in the agricultural markets where the monsoon is active

- Commodity Current: Jayavadan Gandhi

As the monsoon has been active since last week, the farming community has felt the hashtags. If the rains are good in September, kharif and sun crops will be good in the country. The rural economy is expected to improve if agricultural production picks up. Guar seeds, guar gum, soybeans, cumin, coriander, turmeric, pulses and other oilseeds were expected to fetch unbelievable prices. The gambler class has also benefited immensely. However, with much of the speculation coming to an end, prices have come down. In the last week, guar gum has lost about 15 per cent and guar seed about 10 per cent.

Demand for pulses, oilseeds and especially dried fruits is expected to increase in the near future due to festivals from Ganesh Chaturthi to Navratri and Diwali. Fear of trade under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan has eased fears that supplies stranded on the Attari border will ease supply to the market as the Indian government intervenes.

Due to the free trade agreement, concessions on import duty on goods from Afghanistan are relatively cheap, while dried fruits from other countries like Turkey are subject to 20 to 30 per cent import duty.

The government is also controlling the wholesale trade by alerting that the current kharif season will see a 10-12 per cent decline in pulses prices, which will push up the price of pulses. The rain-fed pulses market has been bullish. However, there are signs of a big upswing in November-December if kharif production declines. Karnataka and Maharashtra, two important pulses producing states, are fearful of crop damage due to heavy rains. However increasing the production of rain-fed pulses recently may encourage farmers.

The government has undertaken an exercise to start exporting other crops besides regular exported agricultural products. The Commerce Department is also adding new products to the export list under the District Forest Products policy. In addition to traditional crops like cumin, sorghum, fennel, cashew, chilli, Feni of South Goa, royal lychee of Muzaffarpur, tea of ​​Darjeeling, a list of more than 100 items has been compiled. Apart from agricultural items, other non-agricultural items like pencils made from poplar trees in Jammu and Kashmir-Pulwama, LED bulbs made at Chitradurga in Karnataka and liquor from Nashik have also been included in the export list. The government has set a target of ૪ 200 billion in exports in the first phase with the aim of boosting exports. The government has emphasized on increasing the production of producers as well as improving its quality to increase exports.

However, there is a need to pay more attention to the impact of the current high exports on exports. Exports have been hit hard by big shipping companies violating trade rules by forging contracts with exporters in a bid to make a profit. The difficulty of exporters is exacerbated by the sudden cancellation of contracts by shipping companies without any notice. Rents have also tripled in the short term, making it harder to survive international trade competition. There is a widespread demand for the government to take action against shipping companies in this regard as the monopoly of the shipping regime is charging exorbitant fares.

In addition to the large-scale cancellation of selling in August, increased demand for Christmas goods has made it a top priority for exporters who are currently facing serious problems.

Meanwhile, non-agro commodities are also gaining ground in gold-silver and metal commodities. The gold market is getting strong support due to weak dollar, slowdown in China's growth and increasing cases of delta variants. Gold prices have been hovering around Rs. Around 3,000. The jewelery market has also been relieved as the government has given a month-long exemption in the implementation of hallmarking rules in view of the upcoming festivals. The gold trade has had a negative return of about six per cent this year.