Brazil's main center-south Sugar production picked up speed in May but output in the world's largest exporter of the sweetener still lags last year's rate as mills remain sluggish to start crushing, the industry association Unica said. Mills have started to shift their Sugarcane processing to favor Sugar production.
Germany’s leading grain trader Toepfer International said, it has raised its forecast ofGermany's 2014 Wheat crop after recent favourable weather boosted crops. It forecastsGermany's 2014 wheat crop at 24.77 million tonnes against 24.87 million tonnes in 2013. This was up from 23.95 million tonnes forecast for the 2014 crop in April.
Favourable weather has raised expectations of a larger European Union Maize crop this summer, which would reduce EU dependence on imports of the key animal feed at a time of political crisis in major supplierUkraine. A mixture of rain and sunshine in much ofEuropein May has enabled farmers to complete their planned maize sowing.
Indian Chickpea or Chana futures ended weaker on large spot supplies in major markets in northern parts and lower-than-expected demand. The down trend in Chana continued with arrivals outstripping demand. With rupee gaining strength, pressure of cheap imported Chana and rise in arrival of domestic Chana have put pressure on prices.
India's supersonic, medium-range surface-to-air Akash missiles on Wednesday successfully intercepted fast moving targets in a test carried out from a defense base in Odisha. And a pilotless aircraft, Akash was bang on target.
The missile was launched from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) of Chandipur in the coastal Balasore district of Odisha, about 230 km from Bhubaneswar amid clear and dry weather.
Weather in Odisha had turned unusually rainy in the last few days due to a low pressure system in the Bay of Bengal. Both Bhubaneswar and Balasore witnessed torrential rain of over of 150 mm in a span of 24 hours on Sunday night, which then continued through Monday. As the rain belt shifted to Bihar and West Bengal, the weather in the state turned mainly dry from the 27th and 28th of May.
Unlike many aircrafts, which are weather-dependent, Akash is a missile that can provide all-weather capability and can be used even in bad meteorological conditions both at the time of launch and at the target location. The Akash battery has four radars and four launchers interlinked together and controlled by the Group Control Centre (GCC). Each launcher, equipped with three missiles, is controlled by one radar that can track 16 targets.
The 700 kg all-weather missile Akash can carry a 60-kg warhead at speeds of up to Mach 2.5 (speed of sound). It can operate autonomously and simultaneously can also destroy maneuvering targets, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), fighter aircraft, cruise missiles, as well as other ballistic missiles launched from helicopters. It can be launched from static or mobile platforms, enabling flexible deployment by the armed forces.
Akash is developed as part of India's Integrated Guided Missile Development Program to achieve self-sufficiency in the area of surface-to-air missiles. It is the most expensive missile project ever undertaken by the Union government in the 20th century.
Indian cumin seed or jeera production is expected to rise to 6.5-7 million bags of 55 kg each in 2014, from 4.5-5 million bags a year earlier due to expanded area under cultivation and favourable weather, spot traders said. Jeera futures rose on expectations of higher exports in coming months. Jeera spot prices will up in future.
United States maize futures were capped by China's move to allow Brazilian maize imports to start this month. The step is a further blow toU.S.exports to the world's No.2 consumer of the grain which is already hurt by the discovery of an unapproved genetically modified strain in shipments. Maize planting activity is started inU.S.
With rise in sowing area, both farmers and traders were expecting bumper crop in chickpea or chana this year. But unseasonal rains in Madhya Pradesh and other major chana growing states appear to have severely affected the crop prospect as well as quality of the chana. Major spot markets inIndiacurrently receiving inferior quality of chana.
Maharashtra and Karnataka states contribute 30-35 per cent of total Indian sugarcane production. InMaharashtra, about 75 per cent sugarcane is planted in central and southern regions. This year adsali sugarcane planting inMaharashtraaccounts around 1-1.25 lakh hectares which could have increased with a good monsoon.
