India’s food-grain production to fall 10%, agriculture minister

India’s food-grain production to fall 10%, agriculture ministerIndia’s union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar has said that the country’s total food grain production for this kharif season or summer crops is expected to fall 10 per cent mainly due to low monsoons and drought like situations in some of the states in the country.

The government says that it expects higher production in the Rabi season or winter season will make up for the fall this season. The food grain production for this kharif season is expected to fall to 117.18 million tones compared to 129.94 million tonnes in the kharif season of the previous year.

Mr. Pawar pointed out that even as the figure of 117.18 million tones is lower than the previous year, it is higher than the average production of 113 million tonnes in the previous five years. According to estimates, the total production of rice is expected to fall to 85.59 MT compared with 91.53 MT in the previous kharif season.

The production of pulses is expected to be around 5.26 MT compared to 6.16 MT during the previous kharif season and the production of coarse cereals is estimated to fall to 26.33 MT from 32.26 MT.

“Whatever shortfall we have seen in kharif season will be covered in rabi,” he said.