Browse Data and Analysis

On February 29, 2024, India's Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoAFW) released its Indian crop year (ICY) 2023/2024 (July-June) Second Advance Estimate. The MoAFW is forecasting grain production (excluding the summer crop) lower at 309.3 million metric tons (MMT) compared to 313.6 MMT last year on expected lower production of rice, corn, and other coarse grains, while wheat and barley production is forecast higher at new record levels.

FAS New Delhi (Post) forecasts India's market year (MY) 2024 (January-December) cattle herd at 307.42 million head, up marginally from 307.4 million head in 2023. A gradual pace of growth is likely to persist in the short- to medium-term.

On February 19, 2024, India's Ministry of Finance (MoF)/Department of Revenue issued Notification No. 10/2024-Customs in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Subsection (i) (official gazette), lowering import duties levied on frozen turkey (meat) and edible offal, cranberries, and blueberries.

The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka’s (Sri Lanka) Ministry of Health extended the implementation date of Food (Labeling and Advertising) Regulations (2022) from January 1, 2024 to January 1, 2025.

Marketing year 2023/2024 wheat production is expected to drop sharply to around three-quarters of last year’s level as a result of the June drought and excessive rains in the fall of 2023 that affected Kazakhstan’s major grain producing Northern region.

On February 19, the Government of India (GOI) published a notification that rescinded -effective February 20- the import duty of 10 percent for cotton with a staple length above 32 millimeters (mm).

FAS Mumbai forecasts marketing year (MY) 2023/24 cotton production at 26 million 480 lb. bales on 12.7 million hectares area planted, unchanged from the previous forecast. A strong pace of new crop arrivals during the first four months of the MY indicates a much larger crop size than previous trade estimates.

FAS New Delhi estimates India’s rapeseed-mustard production for marketing year (MY) 2023/2024 (October-September) at 11.9 million metric tons (MMT), harvested from 9.3 million hectares following favorable cold weather during the rabi crop season.

Cumulative rainfall during India's 2023 northeast monsoon was nine percent lower than the fifty-year average, according to India’s Meteorological Department (IMD), spurred by a delay in onset of nearly 20 days.

In 2023, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare/Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) published a series of food safety notifications. The FSSAI has re-operationalized its Labeling and Display Regulations, to include a six-month implementation extension of the disclaimer for brand names and trademarks on front-of-pack labels.

In the calendar year (CY) 2023 (January-December), India's Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying/Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying published the requirement for an integrated veterinary health certificate (VHC) for the import of milk and milk products into India.

Corn exports in 2023/24 are forecast to reach 1.5 million tons. The good harvest and decrease in poultry feed demand resulted in a large exportable surplus at competitive prices. Vietnam, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka are the top destinations. Feed consumption in 2023/24 is reduced from 7.7 to 6.6 million tons.