No more wheat imports: Pawar

WASHINGTON: Maintaining that the Government's only reason for going in for import of 3.5 million tonnes of wheat was to build up the buffer stock, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said there would be no more imports once this was achieved.

Pawar also dismissed suggestions that India was showing favouritism in its tenders and that there has not been a problem after international guidelines had been put in place.

This issue also figured in Pawar's meeting with the US Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns earlier. The Minister said he explained India's position to his American counterpart which was preceded some 15 days ago by a telephone conversation between the two officials.

"Our decision is just to build up the buffer stock. When we have reached to the position that we are comfortable with the buffer stock I don't think we will unnecessarily go for import again. This is a temporary phenomenon," Pawar told reporters during an interaction.

"This year's production is the same, in fact it is a little better than last year. The only thing is that we could not procure and that is the reason why we have to take this decision. About the production, there is no problem in India but this is the first year when we have introduced some reforms in the agriculture marketing sector," he said.