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New Delhi , Sept. 30

THE farm sector is set for a spectacular rebound this year, courtesy the monsoon. The Agriculture Ministry on Tuesday projected production of kharif foodgrains, oilseeds and cotton to rise by 19.86 per cent, 63.56 per cent and 40.92 per cent, respectively.

According to the `first advance estimates' of kharif crop output, released by the Ministry at the National Conference on Agriculture for Rabi Campaign 2003-'04 here, production of foodgrains during the current kharif season is slated to touch 108.45 million tonnes (mt) compared to 90.48 mt for kharif 2002.

This is still lower than the all-time high of 111.55 mt achieved during kharif 2001.

The 17.97 mt jump in output this year is largely a result of last year's drought, which saw production of kharif foodgrains plummet to its lowest level since 1987-88 (which was another drought year).

While output of kharif rice this year is expected at 75.05 mt (compared to 66.51 mt for kharif 2002), production of coarse cereals and pulses are estimated at 27.96 mt (20.13 mt) and 5.44 mt (3.84 mt).

Within kharif coarse cereals, production of maize is anticipated at a record 12.80 mt (9.17 mt), while amounting to 7.72 mt (4.62 mt) for bajra, 4.61 mt (4.05 mt) for jowar, 2.32 mt (1.85 mt) for ragi and 0.51 mt (0.44 mt) for small millets. In kharif pulses, production of tur is pegged at 2.75 mt, up from last year's 2.12 mt.

But it is in oilseeds and cotton where the real rebound is slated to take place.

Kharif oilseeds production this year is expected to touch 15.08 mt as against 9.22 mt during kharif 2002.

Output of kharif groundnut is estimated at 5.93 mt (3.56 mt), while being 7.10 mt (4.52 mt) for soyabean, 0.64 mt (0.42 mt) for sesamum, 0.68 mt (0.43 mt) for castorseed, 0.61 mt (0.18 mt) for sunflower and 0.12 mt (0.11 mt) for nigerseed.

Cotton production this year is expected to rise to 13.12 million bales (of 170 kg each), up from last year's 9.31 million bales.

On the other hand, output of both jute and sugarcane are estimated to drop from 10.78 million bales (of 180 kg each) to 10.75 million bales and from 278.56 mt to 261.37 mt, respectively.

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