Record production of most crops, barring pulses, in 2019-20, has helped India posta bumper foodgrains harvest of 295.67 million tonnes (mt), nearly 3.7 per cent more than 285.21 mt produced in 2018-19, according to the third advance crop estimates released by the Agriculture Ministry on Friday.
Wheat and coarse cereals accounted for much of the increase in production. While wheat output is estimated to be 107.18 mt in the current crop year (July-June) compared to 103.6 mt in the previous year, coarse cereals production may increase by nearly 4.5 mt to 47.54 mt. The output of rice, too, is scheduled to go up by close to 1.5 mt to 117.94 mt compared to the previous crop year.
At 33.5 mt, oilseeds production is projected to be 2 mt higher than 31.52 mt in the previous year, whereas pulses production is estimated to increase by 1 mt to 23.01 mt.
After a slump in production last year, the cotton yield is expected to look up with a record 36 million bales (1 bale is 170 kg) this year. Sugarcane production, as expected, is down by 47 mt to 358 mt in 2019-20.