India's Wheat Crop Seen Down 2MMT

India, the second largest wheat producing nation in the world after China, is seen producing slightly less of the grain in 2009 than previously thought.

Singapore-based Agrocorp International say that production this year will come in at 76.5mmt, 2mmt below output in 2008, as some heat stress in December and January has trimmed yields slightly.

India's farm ministry had said that it expected production to come in roughly equivalent to last season, but has now pegged final output at 77.8mmt.

Harvesting starts in March and is usually completed by the end of April.

Neighbouring Bangladesh meanwhile is expecting an unchanged harvest of around 1mmt this year, but says it will likely step up imports to around 2mmt due to lower world prices.