This Year Kharif Crop Production to be Higher than Last Year: Rupala

India's crop production in the Kharif season will be higher than last year's 141.71 million tonnes on better monsoon rains, said Parshottam Rupala, Minister of State for Agriculture on Friday.

Although Kharif crops were affected in some states because of floods it would not have much impact on the overall production, said the Agriculture Minister of States.

"The condition of the Kharif crop is good. In some places, there is crop damage because of excessive rains. Still, we will have bumper production in Kharif season, higher than last year", Rupala said in front of media in the National Conference on Agriculture – ‘Rabi Campaign’.

As per the report, around 12 states have been affected by floods which lead to sky-high prices of vegetable. Area sown to summer crops remained flat at 1,054.13 lakh hectare so far in the ongoing Kharif season of the 2019-20 crop year (July-June).

As per the latest government data, area sown to rice was down by 5.25 lakh hectare to 378.62 lakh hectare so far and pulses by 2.41 lakh hectare to 132.99 lakh hectare.

On the other hand, acreage of coarse cereals was up by 3.1 lakh hectare to 178.12 lakh hectare, while that of oilseeds remained flat at 178 lakh hectare in the said period.

Rabi crops are mostly grown in the irrigated area. The acreage of maize and mustard seed is expected to be higher in the rabi season, said the minister.

Rupala asked the states to focus on increasing the area and production of oilseeds and reduce the country's dependence on import of edible oils while addressing the conference.

"We have become almost self-sufficient in pulses. There is a need to reduce dependence on edible oil imports by focusing on increasing domestic output of oilseeds. The states should encourage farmers to grow oilseeds," he added.

Rupala directed his administration along with the state governments to take action for faster clearance of crop insurance scheme and claims.