Duty on Wheat Imports After raising the 2017/18 Minimum Support Price (MSP) for wheat by 6.8 percent to Rs.17,350 ($266.19)/MT in a signal to farmers, the government of India (GOI) doubled the import duty to 20 percent. Imports had continued even after the 10 percent rate was imposed in March 2017, although at a slower pace. Those shipments were mostly intended for the flour mills in south India, primarily Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. It is estimated that India produced 98.38 MMT of wheat in 2016/17, and there is hope that the new prices will incentivize farmers to grow more. Per the first advance estimates for 2017/18, the wheat production target is fixed at 97.5 MMT. Meanwhile, traders believe that the boost in the MSP coup...
What You Need to Know Today: Russia rejected calls for a ceasefire in the Black Sea, including a proposal to halt attacks on civilian shipping that could help restore grain flows from Ukrainian ports. Tyson Foods announced plans to permanently close its Joslin, Illinois, beef processing facili...
We have described the long-term investment climate in crop and livestock production, using data primarily from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The data provided background on the current investment climate and outlook for agricultural capital formation. Our conclusion was that investment...
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.