GRAINS-Wheat, soybeans edge higher on weather woes, firmer oil prices

MUMBAI, May 23 (Reuters) - U.S. grains futures edged higher on Monday, lifted by a weaker dollar, an upside in crude oil and as adverse weather conditions threatened production in key producing countries.

* The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 0.98% at $10.80-1/4 a bushel, as of 0146 GMT, after falling 0.74% last week.

* Corn rose 0.71% to $7.84-1/4 a bushel and soybeans edged 0.62% higher to $17.15-3/4 a bushel.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Growing conditions for wheat and barley crops in France fell sharply for a second straight week, data from farm office FranceAgriMer showed on Friday, as a hot spell exacerbated drought in the European Union's biggest grain producer.

* Higher oil prices further supported prices of corn, which is used to make alternative fuel ethanol.

* In the United States, an annual field tour of Kansas last week found the lowest yield potential in the top winter wheat state since 2018.

* Kenya has authorised the importation of 540,000 tonnes of maize duty-free until August to forestall a looming shortfall.

* Argentina, the world's No. 2 corn exporter, could raise its limit for exports of the 2021/22 harvest of the grain to 35 million tonnes, from 30 million tonnes currently, a source at the ministry of agriculture told Reuters on Thursday.

MARKET NEWS

* Oil rose nearly 1% in early trade, while the dollar began the week on the back foot, following its first weekly loss in nearly two months, as investors cut bets on more dollar gains from rising U.S. rates and hoped that easing lockdowns in China can aid global growth.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0800 Germany Ifo Business Climate New May

0800 Germany Ifo Current Conditions New May

0800 Germany Ifo Expectations New May

1300 Euro zone finance ministers meet on fiscal rules reform, banking union in Brussels (Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)