Agri Picks Report: Geojit.

The government has slashed import duty on crude palm oil, refined, bleached and deodorised palm oil, palmolein, palm stearin and other palm oils with effect from Wednesday until Sep 30. Govt cuts import duty on crude palm oil to 10% and RBD palm oil & RBD palmolein to 37.5%. During Jan-Mar, India's tea exports to Iran, its second biggest market, more than halved to 4.6 mln kg. This was not surprising given the US sanctions that limit trade with the West Asian country. But what's interesting is that at the same time exports to the United Arab Emirates jumped 26% to 4.1 mln kg. The Securities and Exchange Board of India has introduced a cross margin benefit of 75% on the initial margin for eligible offsetting positions of commodity index futures and futures of underlying constituents or its variants. India received 4.4 mm of rainfall yesterday, 43% below the long period average of 7.8 mm, according to the India Meteorological Department. The east and northeast India, however, received 21% above-normal rainfall at 16.0 mm. Barley, maize and wheat have been exempted from physical delivery charges from Thursday to Dec 31, the National Commodity Clearing Ltd said in a release. The India Meteorological Department expects the southwest monsoon current to remain stalled over Rajasthan, west Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, and Punjab during the next five days. The government has extended licence-free import of potatoes from Bhutan till Jun 30, 2022, according to an official notification from Directorate General of Foreign Trade.