India’s Foodgrain Production to Touch New Record of 308.65 Mt in 2020-21

India’s foodgrain production is expected to increase by 3.74% in the crop year 2020-21, setting a new record of 308.65 million tons due to better output of wheat, rice and pulses amid good rainfall last year, according to the agriculture ministry.

The country’s foodgrain output in the crop year 2019-20 (June-July) comprising of rice, wheat, pulses and coarse cereals reached a record of 297.5 million tons. The Agriculture Minister while releasing the fourth advance estimate for the crop year of 2020-21 said that food grain production will reach a record of 308.65 million tons. 

The estimate has been updated upward by 3.22 mt from the third estimate of 305.43 million tonnes for the same year.

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that the record foodgrains are being produced in India due to the determined hard work of farmers, the skill of the scientists &e agriculture and farmer-friendly government policies. He added “The central government with various states is carrying out specific efforts to promote the development of Indian agriculture, which will continue.” 

For the crop year 2020-21, according to the data the rice production has set a record of 122.27 million tons, compared to the previous year record of 118.87 million tons. 

In 2020-21, the wheat production is expected to increase to a record of 109.52 million tons from 107.86 in the previous year, while the coarse cereals production output may increase from 47.75 million tons to 51.15 million tons. 

In 2020-21, the output of pulse production is estimated to hit a record of 25.72 million tons, compared with 23.03 million tons in the crop year 2019-20. 

The oilseed production in 2020-21 is estimated at 36.10 million tons, compared with the previous year production of 33.21 million tons. For the crop year 2020-21, the production of mustard seed/ rapeseed is fixed to a record of 10.11 million tons. 

Output of Sugarcane production reached 399.25 million tons in the crop year 2020-21, compared to the previous year production of 370.50 million tons, while the output of cotton production is expected to slightly drop to 35.38 million bales i.e. 170 Kg each from 36.07 million bales in the previous year. 

In the crop year 2020-21, it is estimated that production of jute will slightly decrease to 9.56 million bales i.e. 180 Kg each, from 9.87 million bales production of the previous year. 

The government publishes four estimates before the final estimate at various stages of crop growth and harvesting.