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The country’s foodgrain output touched an all-time high of 257.44 million tonnes (mt) in 2011-12, according to the Government’s latest estimates.
This represents a 5.17 per cent growth over the final output of 244.78 mt in 2010-11.
The fourth advance estimates, released on Tuesday, pegged the foodgrain output 5 million tonnes higher from the earlier projections of 252.56 mt in April. The revised estimate comes a day after the Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, admitted that poor monsoon this year had posed a challenge to sustain growth in foodgrain production in the past two years.
The deficit in monsoon so far, estimated at 23 per cent, has impacted sowing of crops such as rice, coarse cereals and pulses.
The upward revision is primarily led by a record harvest of wheat, which currently stands at 93.90 mt. In the previous year, wheat output stood at 86.87 mt.
Good rain and a prolonged winter aided the bumper wheat harvest in 2011-12, from which the Government has procured over 38 mt.
Rice output
The production of rice stood at 104.32 mt in 2011-12, against the targeted 102 mt.
In 2010-11, rice production stood at 95.98 mt.
The spread of Green Revolution to eastern States such as Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha has been driving rice output in recent years.
In the past five years, the country’s rice output increased by 8 per cent from 96.69 mt in 2007-08 to 104.32 mt in 2011-12.
The production of pulses rose by 2 lakh tonnes over the target to 17.21 mt, but remained lower than last year’s 18.24 mt.
Similarly, production of oilseeds was lower by about 2.4 mt over last year. Total oilseeds production stood at 30 mt in 2011-12 (32.47 mt).
Cotton output stood at 35.2 million bales (of 170 kg each) in 2011-12, against 33 million bales in the previous year. Sugarcane output has been pegged at 357.67 mt (342.38 mt).
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