Reuters | New Delhi | Fri Mar 5, 2010 | 2:00pm IST

India’s winter-sown crop prospects are "very encouraging", but the country needs to pay farmers a good price for their produce to boost output further, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told parliament on Friday. A good harvest is likely to bring down food inflation, which accelerated to nearly 18 percent in late February from a year ago, and also put pressure on the government to export wheat and rice as official agencies do not have enough storage space.

The government, facing mounting criticism for rising food prices, is struggling to meet conflicting aims of controlling food inflation and trying to please farmers by paying them attractive prices. Singh said the government would take all practical measures to bring down food prices. He also said the economy, Asia’s third largest, would grow by at least 8 percent in the financial year that begins on April 1, after expanding 7.2-7.5 percent in 2009/10.