Releasing the fourth advance estimate for the 2020-21 crop year, the agriculture ministry said food grain production is projected at a record 308.65 million tonnes, thereby creating a new record.
India’s food grain production is estimated to rise 3.74 per cent to a new record of 308.65 million tonnes in the crop year 2020-21, on the better output of rice, wheat and pulses amid good monsoon rains last year, the agriculture ministry said. The record output is projected in rice, wheat, maize, pulses, and oilseeds, it added.
In the 2019-20 crop year (July-June), the country’s foodgrain output (comprising wheat, rice, pulses, and coarse cereals) stood at a record 297.5 million tonnes. Releasing the fourth advance estimate for the 2020-21 crop years, the agriculture ministry said food grain production is projected at a record 308.65 million tonnes.
The assessment has been revised upward by 3.22 million tonnes from the third estimate of 305.43 million tonnes for the same year. Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said the record food grains are being produced in the country due to the tireless hard work of the farmers, the skill of the scientists and the agriculture and farmer-friendly government policies.
He added that the central government is doing work with the states to advance Indian agriculture, which will continue. As per the data, rice production is pegged at a record 122.27 million tonnes in the 2020-21 crop year as against 118.87 million tonnes in the previous year. Wheat production is estimated to increase to a record 109.52 million tonnes in 2020-21 from 107.86 million tonnes in the previous year, while the output of coarse cereals is likely to increase to 51.15 million tonnes from 47.75 million tonnes.
Pulses output is estimated to be a record 25.72 million tonnes, as compared to 23.03 million tonnes in the 2019-20 crop year. In the non-food grain category, the production of oilseeds is estimated at 36.10 million tonnes in 2020-21 against 33.21 million tonnes in the previous year. Rapeseed/mustard seed production is pegged at a record 10.11 million tonnes for the 2020-21 crop year. Sugarcane production is pegged at 399.25 million tonnes from 370.50 million tonnes in the previous year, while cotton output is expected to drop marginally to 35.38 million bales (170 kg each) from 36.07 million bales. Production of jute/Mesta is estimated to drop slightly to 9.56 million bales (180 kg each) in the 2020-21 crop year, from 9.87 million bales in the previous year.