Malaysia looks to buy Indian wheat

NEW DELHI: At a time when warehouses are choked with wheat, Indian wheat is seeing good demand from West Asia and Southeast Asian countries. After Iran showing its intent to buying at least 1 million tonne of wheat for the next three years, Malaysia has sought regular supply of wheat from India.

"We have asked the Malaysian government to send a formal proposal and also a technical team to India to check the quality of our grain," said food minister K V Thomas.

India has tied up export of 6.4 lakh tonne wheat to countries like South Korea, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Thailand. Meanwhile, talks with the Iranian government for wheat export have entered an advance stage. Iran may buy 2 lakh tonne in December this year and may enter a 3-year long export agreement for 1 million tonne wheat a year. Iran had discontinued buying wheat from India since 1996 on issues of Karnal Bunt, a fungal disease which affects the quality of wheat.

"Iran is now okay with the quality. All kinds of wheat in the country are infested with Karnal Bunt, a fungal disease which is endemic to Indian soil.