Govt must protect farmers from cheap imports: Sharad Pawar.

Farm Minister Sharad Pawar said on Tuesday local farmers should be protected from cheap imports of wheat and sugar.

"If anybody wants to dump cheap products, how can we (the government) sit as a silent spectator?" Pawar said.

India's sugar industry has been demanding an import tax on sugar saying foreign shipments would be cheaper than the locally produced sugar, making it difficult for millers to pay a good price to cane farmers.

Indian traders have also imported small amounts of wheat in recent months as international prices were lower than local rates, which rise as government agencies, the biggest buyers, pay attractive prices to farmers.

"We have to protect farmers," Pawar told reporters.

To boost domestic supplies, India, the world's second biggest producer of sugar, abolished 60% import tax on the sweetener in 2009.

Duty-free imports of wheat have been allowed since 2007.

New York raw sugar futures have more than halved since they soared to a 29-year peak in February as prospects of imports by India diminished, while supplies from Brazil are expected to rise.

Source : moneycontrol.com