Chhattisgarh govt targets of 7.3 mn tonnes of production

Banking on the normal monsoon forecast, Chhattisgarh government has set a target to produce about 7.3 million tonnes of foodgrain in the kharif 2012-13.

The estimated foodgrain production target set by the state government for the current kharif season is just two per cent higher as compared to production in the kharif 2011-12. Last year, the state has produced 7.22 million tonne of foodgrain.

The total crop acreage is targeted to be 4.77 million hectare as compared to last year’s 4.75 million hectare. However, the acreage of paddy has been slightly reduced in the state also known as “rice bowl” of the country. But the rice production will see a growth of about two per cent.

The state government has set a target to sow paddy crop in 3.60 million hectare of area in kharif 2012-13 as against last year’s 3.61 million hectare. The estimated rice production in the state is likely to be 6.48 million tonnes as against last year’s 6.36 million tonnes. In 2010, the state had produced 6.1 million tonnes of rice.

According to agriculture department officials, special stress has been given to enhance the productivity of different crops. This year, the target of producing 1800 kilogram of paddy in a hectare of land has been set that is higher by about 100 kilogram as compared to the productivity target of last year.

“Since much scope for horizontal expansion has not been left, thrust will be on crop diversification and increasing productivity this year,” R K Chandravanshi, deputy director (agriculture) told Business Standard. The high and best grade of seeds and fertilizers will also help for better production, he added.

The targeted area under pulses will be 408000 hectare, which is about four per cent more than the previous year. The production target for total pulses has been set at 212030 tonnes as compared to last year’s 199470 tonnes—an increase of about six per cent in the production.

The proposed area for the oilseeds has also been increased by about three per cent from previous year’s 343170 hectare to 352500 hectare. A target of producing 314390 tonnes of oilseeds has been set for the kharif 2012-13 in the state.