Govt predicts record foodgrain output

Production of pulses, whose prices had soared last year due to supply shortage, are all set to see record growth this year. Wheat and coarse cereals are also estimated to witness record production, which should help further ease the food inflation, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has said.

According to third advance estimates of the agriculture ministry, these food items will catapult foodgrain production to the highest level of 235.88 million tonnes (mt) in the 2010-11 crop year, up 8.14 per cent from last year. The earlier record was 234.47 mt in 2008-09.

Production of pulses this year is estimated to be 17.29 mt. Last year, the output stood at 14.66 mt, while the previous record of 14.91 mt was achieved in 2003-04 following record output.

Experts believe such high production of pulses will significantly bring down the country’s annual import burden from 3-4 mt to around 1 mt. Food inflation stood at 9.5 per cent for the week ended March 19. Wheat production in 2010-2011 is estimated to be around of 84.27 mt. Last year, the country produced 80.80 mt of the crop.

Production of coarse cereals this year is estimated to be 40.21 mt, almost 19.8 per cent more than last year’s output.

“I must congratulate the farming community for their great effort in bringing about this major leap in production of foodgrains,” Pawar told reporters today after releasing the data at the two-day conference on kharif campaign.

Rice production this year has been estimated to be 94.11 mt, much higher than the 2009-10 output of 89.09 mt.

Oilseeds production is estimated at 30.25 mt, up from 24.8 mt in the previous year. Sugarcane output is pegged at 340.55 mt in 2010-11, as against 292 mt last year.

Cotton output is estimated to have set a fresh record of 33.92 million bales (one bale is equal to 170 kg) this year, as against 24.2 million bales last year.