India’s agricultural production surges to record high in 2024-25

New Delhi, March 10 (IANS) India has achieved a record production of rice, wheat, maize, groundnut and Soybean during 2024-25, according to the second advance estimates released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare on Monday.

The country’s kharif foodgrain production is estimated at 1663.91 lakh metric tonnes (LMT), and rabi foodgrain production is estimated at 1645.27 LMT.

Kharif rice production is estimated at 1206.79 LMT as compared to 1132.59 LMT in 2023-24, showing an increase of 74.20 LMT while the production of rabi rice is estimated at 157.58 LMT.

Production of wheat is estimated at 1154.30 LMT, which is higher by 21.38 LMT as compared to the previous year’s production of 1132.92 LMT.

Production of Shree Anna (Kharif) is estimated at 137.52 LMT and Shree Anna (Rabi) is estimated at 30.81 LMT. Further, the Production of Nutri/Coarse Cereals (Kharif) is estimated at 385.63 LMT and the Production of Nutri/Coarse Cereals (Rabi) is estimated at 174.65 LMT.

Production of Tur and Gram is estimated at 35.11 LMT and 115.35 LMT, respectively and the production of Lentil is estimated at 18.17 LMT.

The production of Kharif and Rabi Groundnut is estimated at 104.26 LMT and 8.87 LMT, respectively while the production of Soybean is estimated at 151.32 LMT which is higher by 20.70 LMT as compared to the previous year’s production of 130.62 LMT and production of Rapeseed and Mustard is estimated at 128.73 LMT.

The production of Cotton is estimated at 294.25 Lakh Bales (of 170 kg each) and the production of Sugarcane is estimated at 4350.79 LMT.

The Ministry said that while preparing the kharif crop production estimates the Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs) based yield has been considered. The rabi crop production is based on the average yield and is subject to change in the successive estimates on the receipt of better yield estimates based on CCEs. The production of various summer crops will be included in the forthcoming third advance estimates.

Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan, while approving and releasing the data on major agricultural crops, stated that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Central Government is continuously working towards the development of the agricultural sector.

He highlighted that the Ministry of Agriculture is providing assistance and encouragement to farmers through various schemes, resulting in a record increase in agricultural crop production.

The crop area received from the States has been validated and triangulated with information received from Remote Sensing, Weekly Crop Weather Watch Group and other agencies, according to a statement.

Further, the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (DoA&FW) took the initiative of Stakeholder consultation with representatives from the industry and other Governmental Departments to receive their opinions, views and sentiments for the Kharif and Rabi season. These have also been considered while finalising the estimates. Further, the yield estimates are based on Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs), previous trends and other contributing factors, the statement added.

–IANS

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