The U. S. Agriculture Department issued crop and trade forecasts in its annual Outlook Forum, this week. According to the USDA, the farm income in U. S. would be increased by nearly 12% and should be around $63 billion in the year 2010 as the economy is seeing a recovery very fast.

Jairam Ramesh, Environment minister, has put freeze on the commercial cultivation of BT Brinjal which is in contrary to what Union Science and Technology Minister Prithviraj Chavan has stated in his existing research that Bt Brinjal was safe for use.

Chavan is a scientist and also insisted on the setting up of a bio-safety standards regulatory authority. The Indian Government is on the edge of setting up of the National Bio-Technology Regulatory Authority.

The Department of Agriculture announced new rules regarding organic milk and meat on Friday. The Department is sharpening the standards for organic milk and meat by applying these new rules. The new rules are meant to settle a dispute in the organic agriculture industry over how much time cows at organic dairies must spend grazing on pasture.

Federal agriculture officials said that now the organic milk and meat must come from livestock that graze in pastures at least four months of the year and that 30 percent of their feed must come from grazing as per the new rules. The old rules required only that animals have access to pasture.

The Agriculture Minister of the state of Madhya Pradesh has said that the Genetically Modified crops have no place in the state. His comments came barely three days before the likely announcement by the centre on the fate of Bt Brinjal.

The minister expressed that he wants his state to emerge as India first "organic farming state" and also said, "I have already written a letter to the Centre against the commercialization of Bt Brinjal in country, as it wasn't good for human health and environment."

Ludhiana, Jan 10 : The Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering and Technology (CIPHET), a premier institute of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in Ludhiana, recently unveiled the latest food processing technologies to produce green chilli powder, guava bars and peanut milk.

Farmers, self-help groups and small entrepreneurs were invited to take a look and to adopt the technologies to process vegetables and fruits.

New Delhi, Dec 4 : The Centre has circulated a draft of the National Food Security Bill to the State governments for their views. The Minister for Agriculture, Sharad Pawar stated this during question hour in the Rajya Sabha today.

Sharad Pawar said that the government is planning a meeting of all the State Chief Ministers in this regard. Talking about the food situation in the country, he said that 16 states were hit by drought and heavy rainfalls affected several other states including Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

The Minister for Agriculture said that the government through various central schemes has taken measures to compensate for the losses suffered during the Kharif season.

Soybean futures surged almost 2% during 1st half of the trading session, but it erased its gain during later part of the session as demand was quite on the lower side at major soybean Mandis. CPO futures plunged during last trading session backed by good production estimates for the current year.

Chana futures traded mixed during last trading session as the complex was seen trading in its consolidation phase. Guar complex saw some profit booking during last trading session after a steep rally backed by strong fundamentals.

Chana arrivals are 7000-8000 bags at Delhi's Lawrence Road Mandi. The Spot price is expected to open at Rs. 2270-
80/quintal up by Rs. 10-20/quintal from previous closing Spot price.

Spices complex remained in focus in yesterday's trade due to heavy rains and stronger international prices kept Turmeric and Pepper prices firm but after reports of rain in Gujarat and Saurashtra jeera prices hit lower freeze of two percent.

Pepper prices rose almost by more than 2% as Vietnam raised their FOB prices by almost $80 due to heavy rains and water logging. Domestic demand continues to remain sluggish but due to international cues prices have went up.

Oilseeds complex plunged during the previous trading session erasing gains of previous day on account of profit booking. Soybean futures plunged by 1.4-2% as the demand in Spot market was a bit subdued

India's 2009 soybean output is expected at 9.72 million tonnes, down from 10.82 million tonnes a year earlier, trade body Soybean Processors Association of India said in a statement last week and arrival of soybean is likely to be delayed due to the ongoing rain in Maharashtra, the second biggest producing state.

Guar complex outperformed all agro commodities as bullish fundamentals seem to be working for the complex. Chana prices were up on bargain hunting. Prices for future wheat is fell down cause of astonishing rain that is making all believes stronger for better crop of wheat in this coming session.

Government have initiated from 4th October to distribute wheat and pulses through PDS shops comparatively at lower rate to common people. While atta will be available at Rs 9 per kg, chana daal will cost only Rs 28.

In Spices complex, turmeric was victimized the most as good rains in Andhra Pradesh may revive yield in crop cause selling. Jeera due to improvement in physical demand managed to hold on to its gain. Cardamom moved up on bargain hunting, pepper continues to trade in narrow range.

Arrivals at The Kerala Cardamom Processing and Marketing Company Limited, Thekkady stood at 49859 kgs. and average traded rate was Rs. 627 kgs. due to good rains and slack demand cardamom prices continue to edge lower and in the auction prices were weak by Rs. 15/kg

Oilseeds complex plunged during yesterday's trading session erasing gains of previous day on account of profit booking. Soybean futures plunged by 1.5-2% as the demand in Spot market was a bit subdued.

India may export 4.5 million tonnes of soyameal in the 2009-10 season, starting October, on revival of demand abroad, even as outbound shipment of the item is estimated to dip to 3.7 million tonnes this season.

Chana futures plunged during yesterday's trading on huge arrivals in the Spot market. Guar futures showed some firmness during yesterday's trading session and ended 2.5-3% higher than previous day's closing backed by strong fundamentals.

Chana arrivals are 12000 bags at Delhi's Lawrence Road Mandi. The Spot price is expected to open at Rs. 2265-70/quintal marginally down from yesterday's closing Spot price. The arrivals of 3000 bags were from Rajasthan and the remaining
9000 bags were from Madhya Pradesh.

Spices complex showing signs of consolidation and spices such as Jeera and Turmeric continue to maintain bullish momentum. Cardamom due to sluggish demand and higher arrivals prices hit lower circuit.

Soybean futures opened down in yesterday's tarding session and than recovered later on backed by strong Spot price and strong buying in the Spot market of Nagpur. Malaysian Crude palm oil futures extended the previous day's losses Thursday as weak commodity markets prompted profit-taking and long liquidation.

India's PEC Ltd has bought 10,000 tonnes of RBD palmolein at $705 per tonne for delivery by mid-October, two government officials told Reuters on Thursday. PEC's vegoil import programme is part of the government's plan to try to contain rising prices during the current festival season.