Foodgrain output seen up 2% on good kharif harvest

Preliminary crop production estimates released by the agriculture ministry today reckon the output of foodgrains in the current kharif to go up by about two per cent while that of most commercial crops, barring sugarcane, to fall marginally.

Sugarcane production is projected to rise by around10.9 per cent. The production of oilseeds and cotton is projected to drop by 6.5 per cent and 2.5 per cent, respectively, while that of pulses to rise marginally by 0.6 per cent.

Announcing this, agriculture secretary Radha Singh said most states were confident of good performance in the current kharif and the second set of estimates to be issued after about three months would give a better picture of the kharif harvest. Most numbers might go up. The outlook for the next rabi, too, was quite positive thanks to late rains and adequate water in reservoirs, she maintained.

The first advance estimates are based on the information supplied by the states in the two-day rabi conference that ended, here, today.

These estimates put the likely foodgrain output at around 105.25 million tonne in this kharif, about 1.93 million tonne, or 1.9 per cent, higher than last kharif's 103.32 million tonne.

The increase is chiefly on account of anticipated three per cent jump in the output of rice "" from last kharif's 71.67 million tonne to 73.83 million tonne in the current harvest.

The output of coarse grains is down one per cent from 26.70 million tonne last kharif to 26.44 million tonne this time. Maize is the only coarse cereal which is expected to witness an output increase of 4.9 per cent.

Though the overall production of pulses is estimated to rise slightly by 0.6 per cent, that of the major kharif pulse, is projected to fall perceptibly by 10.2 per cent "" from 2.26 million tonne in last kharif to 2.29 million tonne this season.

In the case of commercial crops, cotton output is anticipated to fall despite an increase in acreage due to damage to the crop by aberrant weather and floods.

The official estimates place it at 15.9 million bales (of 170 kg each), against last year's 17 million tonne.

The output of other fibre crop of jute is projected to fall by about 4.4 per cent from 9.64 million bales (of 180 kg each) last kharif to 9.22 million bales this season. But the output of mesta is estimated to increase by 1.2 per cent from 0.85 million bales last season to 0.86 million bales this time.

Among oilseeds, while the output of groundnut is projected to rise by 11.4 per cent, that of soyabean will fall by about 12.4 per cent. The total kharif oilseed production is put at 14.56 million tonne, down 2.5 per cent from last kharif's 14.94 million tonne. The output of groundnut is reckoned at 5.94 million tonne, against last season's 5.33 million tonne and that of soyabean at 6.58 million tonne, against last year's 7.51 million tonne.

The production is sugarcane is expected to jump by some 10.9 per cent from last year's 232.32 million tonne to 257.72 million tonne this year.