India wheat futures fall on profit-taking, output

MUMBAI, Nov 4 (Reuters) - India wheat futures fell on Wednesday on hopes of higher output and profit-taking after hitting fresh highs in the previous session, analysts said.

Wheat prices have been rising in the past few days on expectations of a higher support price and a delay in release of government stocks, analysts said.

India aims to raise wheat output by 2 million tonnes from last year, Farm Minister Sharad Pawar told the annual Economic Editors Conference on Wednesday.

In 2008/09, India produced 80.58 million tonnes of wheat. See [ID:nDEB003062]

The most-traded November wheat NWTX9 last ended 1.88 percent lower at 1,416.2 rupees per 100 kg.

A Food Corp of India official last week said India may declare a new support price for wheat this week to boost acreage.

The government increased support price for rice by 50 rupees per 100 kg last week. See [ID:nLT377836]

The government had earlier said it would release up to 3 million tonnes of wheat for sale in open market during the six months from October. However, the stocks have not been released so far and this is supporting prices, analysts said.

India raised its 2009/10 wheat output target by almost 4 percent to 82 million tonnes, a top official said on Oct. 27, as unseasonal rains have boosted soil moisture, which improves yield. see [ID:nDEL496258]