Foodgrain production up, pulses may get cheaper

India’s foodgrain production is estimated to rise to a record 135.03 million tonnes in the kharif season of 2016-17 on record output of rice and pulses helped by a good monsoon.

Both the percentage of growth and the total kharif foodgrain output will be a record, agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh said in New Delhi. Last year, the output of all food grains including rice, pulses and coarse cereals was 124.01 million tonnes and the previous record was 131.27 million tonnes in 2011-12, he said.

Higher output of the grains will help soften retail prices, which have remained a major concern, the minister said.

According to the data, rice production is estimated at an all-time high 93.88 million tonnes in the this kharif season as against 91.31 million tonnes in the year before.

Similarly, production of pulses, whose retail prices have risen sharply due to decline in the last two years, is pegged at a record 8.7 million tonnes in kharif this year, up 57 per cent from 5.54 million tonnes last season.

Higher market price and a sharp increase in the support price encouraged farmers to boost pulse cultivation, Singh said.

“As a result of favourable monsoon rainfall, area and yield of most of the kharif crops are expected to be higher. Consequently, estimated production of most of the crops during the current season is estimated to be higher as compared to their production in 2015-16,” he said. Production of cereal is estimated to grow to 32.45 million tonnes.