Production of Kharif crops this year decline by 2.8% as compared to the previous year, the agriculture ministry said in its first advance estimate.
Ministry estimates showed that production of foodgrains such as rice, pulses and coarse cereals is at 134.7 million tonnes in 2017-18, about 2.8% below last year’s record crop of 138.5 million tonnes. This dip is mainly due to floods and deficit rainfall in certain areas that led to decrease in overall sown area.
Production of oilseeds is likely to fall by 7.7%, from 22.4 million tonnes in 2016-17 to 20.68 million tonnes in 2017-18. For cotton, lower productivity has resulted in the reduced estimated production of 32.27 million bales (of 170 kg each) as compared to 33.09 million bales during 2016-17 despite higher area coverage in the current year.
Estimates by the ministry also showed that production of Kharif pulses, mostly grown under rain-fed conditions, is likely to fall 7.5%, from 9.4 million tonnes in 2016-17 to 8.7 million tonnes in 2017-18. Among different oilseeds, production of soybeans is set for the sharpest dip by an estimated 11.5% year-on-year.
However, the only exception sugarcane is reported higher estimated production this year. Its production is estimated at 337.69 MT which is higher by 30.97 MT than the last year's production of 306.72 MT, about 10% more than the previous year.
