Bihar Records Bumper Foodgrain Production in 2021-22

According to the final report on foodgrain output for the previous year, Bihar's production of foodgrains has been recorded at 184 lakh metric tonnes in 2021–2022, an increase of 5 lakh metric tonnes from the year 2020–2021.

As per the most recent data on foodgrain production for the years 2021 and 2022, Bihar produced 77.17 lakh metric tonnes of rice and 68.89 lakh metric tonnes of wheat. In the kharif and rabi seasons, a total of 184.86 lakh metric tonnes of food grains were produced in Bihar.

The production of food grains in the recently concluded year has surpassed that of the previous several years. The concerned government authorities are seeing these figures as encouraging, assuming it will help with food security.

 The achievement is credited to increased seed distribution, enough rainfall in 21 and 22, and other efforts to assist farmers in expanding their cultivation areas for the increase in foodgrain production.

The state has produced food grains steadily for the past few years. While the production was 163.80 lakh metric tonnes in 2019–20, it increased to 179.52 lakh metric tonnes in 2020–21.

Seeing the latest data, it is anticipated that there would be substantially more wheat produced because the rabi crop thrives in cold, moist weather. Farmers in several sections of the state have already sown wheat, and are expecting a good harvest.

Notably, around 70 lakh metric tonnes of wheat are anticipated to be produced this year, an increase of almost 4 lakh tonnes from the previous year (2021-22). With a crop area of 22.38 lakh hectares, the state produced 68.89 lakh metric tonnes of wheat last year.

Additionally, there is a chance that a successful rabi crop may boost overall foodgrain production after the kharif season was negatively impacted by insufficient rain and protracted dry periods. The production of rice is anticipated to reach between 60 and 62 lakh metric tonnes in 2022–2023, however, official figures have not yet been released.

Moreover, Bihar has recently seen exceptionally cold temperatures, as low as 10 degrees Celsius recorded in numerous districts.