Poor Rains To Hit Oilseeds, Grains, Sugarcane Output

Poor monsoon rains in southern states are expected to cause a fall in India's winter output of foodgrains and oilseeds in the 1997-98 (July-June) crop year, the government said.

It said in a statement that cotton output in the 1997-98 (Oct-Sept) season would dip because of deficient rains in Andhra Pradesh.

A decline in sugarcane output was expected because of a fall in the amount of area under the crop.

"It was noticed that the delay in the onset of the south-west monsoon and uneven temporal and spatial distribution of rainfall had some unfavourable impact on the prospects of kharif (winter) crops," the statement said.

The statement was issued late on Saturday after a two-day meeting of state agriculture ministers, senior agriculture ministry officials and experts.

Winter foodgrains output was expected to dip to 103.5 million tonnes from 105.1 million tonnes in 1996-97, despite a 1.6 million tonnes increase in rice output to 73.1 million tonnes as coarse cereals and pulses output was expected to fall.

India produced 198.17 million tonnes of foodgrains in 1996-97 .

The statement said 1997-98 winter oilseeds output was expected to dip to about 13.46 million tonnes from 14.24 million tonnes in 1996-97. India had an oilseeds output of 24.46 million tonnes in 1996-97 (July-June).

"The production of oilseeds is estimated to be less than the previous year with a major decline in groundnut and sunflower in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu," the statement said.

The statement said 1997-98 cotton production would decline to about 13.4 million bales from 14.53 million bales in 1996-97.

"The serious impact of drought in Andhra Pradesh has adversely affected the cotton crop, and the total production of cotton during 1997-98 is expected to be about 13.4 million bales," the statement added.

It said sugarcane output in the 1997-98 (Oct-Sept) season was expected to fall to about 262.5 million tonnes from 276.7 million tonnes in 1996-97 as a result of a fall in the area covered by the crop. The industry expects the 1997-98 sugar output to dip sharply to 10.5 million tonnes from 12.8 million tonnes in 1996-97.