Drought to pull down kharif output by 18%

Font Size

Print

Feedback

Email

Discuss

Related Articles

Silver futures remain up on higher global trendLead futures down on profit-booking, subdued deman...No special favour to Satyam: KhurshidGuargum futures spurt 1.27 pct on brisk buying

New Delhi: The worst drought in decades has started showing impact on India’s farm output.

In its first official estimate for the 2009-10 crop marketing year, the government on Tuesday said that the total foodgrain production this year could drop by almost 18% to around 96.63 million tonne (mt), as against 117.70 million tonne last year.

Production of rice, the largest foodgrain grown during the kharif season, is projected to fall by around 15.13 million tonne to 69.45 million tonne. Coarse cereals production this year, which includes jowar, bajra, maize and millets, is expected to be around 5.58 million tonne less than last year, largely because of fall in maize production, the official statement said.

Maize production this year is estimated to drop to around 12.61 million tonne as against 13.9 million tonne produced during last kharif season.

Among pulses, government’s official estimates show that production during the kharif season is projected to drop marginally to 4.42 million tonne as against 4.78 million tonne produced during the last kharif season.

“Pulses production won’t be impacted much as many farmers shifted to the crop because of low rains,” a senior government official said.

Among cash crops, oilseeds production during this kharif season is estimated to be around 15.23 million tonne, down almost 15% from last year’s kharif production of around 17.88 million tonne.

The big drop in oilseeds has come from groundnut, whose production this year is projected to fall to 4.52 million tonne, from around 5.63 million tonne.

“Groundnut production this year is projected to be less because of less acreage and almost 80% deficient rainfall in Gujarat – the country’s largest groundnut growing state during the crucial sowing months,” a leading oil trader from Ahmedabad said.

He also added that this might hurt overall domestic edible oil supplies as groundnut has one of the highest oil content.

Soyabean production is expected to be around 8.93 million tonne this year, down from around 9.90 million tonne last year.

The big drawdown is expected to be in sugarcane, where production in 2009-10 is expected to be around 249.48 million tonne, down almost 9% than last year’s production of around 273.91 million tonne.

Production of cotton, the main cash crop grown in Maharashtra and Gujarat is expected to be around 23.65 million bales, up from last year’s actual production of 23.15 million bales. (1 bale equals 170 kg).