NEW DELHI: Kharif food grain production for 2024-25 is likely to increase by 5.7% over that of the previous year. The total production is projected at 1647.05 lakh metric tonnes (LMT), which is 89.37 LMT more compared to last year and 124.59 LMT higher than the average kharif food grain production, according to the agriculture ministry’s first advance estimate released on Tuesday.
Last year, the total kharif production was 1,557.68 LMT. The estimated increase in food production in 2024-25 is mostly due to rise in output of rice, maize, coarse grains and oilseeds. A major concern is lower pulses production this kharif, which is projected at 69.54 LMT. In view of lower production, the prices of pulses are showing an uptick in the past two years. The government is making to make market intervention from time to time by selling cheaper retail pulses.
The kharif pulses, namely tur and urad, have been witnessing consistent less production over the past four years. According to the agriculture and farmers’ welfare department data, kharif pulses production was 86.18 LMT in 2020-21, which deceased to 82.35 LMT in 2021-22, to 76.21 LMT in 2022-23 and 69.74 LMT in 2023-24.
Tur production in 2024-25 is projected at 35.02 LMT which dipped from 43.16 LMT from 2020-21. Similarly, production of urad and moong pulses has also followed the same trend.
Urad production has declined since 2021-22. The current production has been projected at 12 LMT, which was 18.65 LMT in 2021-22. Kharif moong production is estimated at 13.83 LMT, which was around 20 LMT in 2020-21.
The total kharif rice production during 2024-25 is estimated to be 1199.34 LMT, which is higher by 66.75 LMT than last year and 114.83 LMT higher than average kharif rice production. The kharif maize production is estimated at 245.41 LMT and kharif coarse cereals is projected to be 378.18 LMT.
Further, total kharif oilseeds production in the country during 2024-25 is estimated to be 257.45 LMT, which is 15.83 LMT more than the previous year. The groundnut production for 2024-25 is estimated at 103.60 LMT and soybean production at 133.60 LMT.
The production of sugarcane in the country during 2024-25 is estimated to be 4399.30 lakh tonnes. The production of cotton is projected to be 299.26 lakh bales (170 kg each). The production of jute and mesta is estimated to be 84.56 lakh bales (180 kg each).
In a first, the ministry prepared area estimates using digital crop survey data under the Digital Agriculture Mission, replacing the manual Girdawari system. The DCS covered all districts of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Odisha in kharif 2024, leading to “substantial rise in area under rice particularly in UP,” the ministry said.
“The crop yields estimates are majorly based on trend/normal yield, coupled with other ground-level inputs and expectations. This yield will undergo revision based on receipt of actual yield ascertained through conduct of crop cutting experiments (CCEs) during the time of harvest, which in return would be reflected in the subsequent production estimates,” the ministry said.