Monday, 3 September 2018
Riding
on a near normal monsoon, output of most food crops is projected to
hit record levels in 2017-18 to give an all-time high foodgrain
harvest of 284.83 million tonnes, 3.5 per cent higher than that of
the previous year, according to the 4th advance estimates released on
Tuesday.
Rice production is expected to touch a peak of 112.91
mt, 3 per cent more than last year’s, while wheat will just fall
shy of the 100-mt mark, the data released by the Agriculture Ministry
showed.
Pulses production, on the other hand, is seen crossing
25 mt, despite a substantial fall expected in tur production. The
record increase expected in urad and gram will compensate for the tur
shortfall.
Despite an anticipated 17 per cent drop in soybean
output to 10.98 mt, total oilseeds production is projected to be
similar to that of the previous year, at 31.31 mt, thanks to an
impressive recovery expected in groundnut output at 9.18 mt, nearly
23 per cent higher than the 7.46 mt in 2016-17.
The
production of coarse cereals too is expected to climb to a new high
of 46.99 mt, up 3.22 mt from 2016-17, despite bajra yields being
projected to slide 5 per cent.
A record 20 per cent increase in
sugarcane production in 2017-18 to 376.9 mt has already precipitated
a severe crisis in the sugar sector, requiring the government to
intervene so that the sugarcane farmers, whose dues from sugar mills
have mounted, get some reprieve. Cotton output, too, is projected to
go up by more than 2 million bales (of 170 kg each) to 34.89 million
bales, according to the official data.
The estimated maize
output will be 28.72 mt, which is nearly 3 mt more than the final
production in 2016-17.