Indian farmers shift from rapeseed to other crops as temperatures soar

MUMBAI, Nov 25 (Reuters): Rapeseed and mustard planting in India is set to drop despite higher prices, as above-average temperatures during the sowing season prompt farmers to switch to crops less affected by heat and which offer equally good returns, industry officials told Reuters.

Lower production of India's main winter-sown oilseed crop could force the country, the world's biggest importer of vegetable oils, to increase expensive overseas purchases of cooking oils such as palm oil, soyoil and sunflower oil to meet rising demand.

Temperatures stayed higher than usual in October and in the first three weeks of November, which was not good for the crop, said Anil Chatar, a leading trader based in Jaipur in the north-western state of Rajasthan, the biggest rapeseed producer.

"In many places, the early-planted crops didn't germinate, so farmers ended up switching to different one," he said.