''India set to have all-time high harvest in 2018-19 kharif season''

Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, September 26

India will harvest an all-time high foodgrain production in 2018-19, according to the first advance estimates released by the Agriculture Ministry.

The country will have foodgrain production estimated at 141.59 MT, an increase of 11.94 MT against the 129.65 MT average production from 2012-17, said Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh.

This is also higher by 0.86 million tonnes as compared to last year’s kharif foodgrain production of 140.73 million tonnes.

The estimate of production of major kharif crops for 2018-19 is based on the feedback received from states and validated with information available from other sources, said the government.

The estimated production of various crops is: rice 99.24 million tonnes, nutri/coarse cereals 33.13 million tonnes, maize 21.47 million tonnes, pulses 9.22 million tonnes, (tur 4.08 million tones, urad 2.65 million tonnes), oilseeds 22.19 million tonnes, soyabean 13.46 million tonnes, groundnut 6.33 million tonnes, castor seed 1.52 million tonnes, cotton 32.48 million bales (of 170 kg each), jute and mesta 10.17 million bales (of 180 kg each) and sugarcane 383.89 million tonnes.

The cumulative rainfall in the country during the monsoon season--June 1 to September 12 this year--has been 8% lower than the Long Period Average (LPA).

However, the cumulative rainfall in North-West India, Central India and South Peninsula during the aforesaid period has been normal.

Accordingly, most major crop-producing states had witnessed normal rain, it said.

These are preliminary estimates and will undergo revision based on further inputs from the government.