India is likely to produce a record 99-100 mln tn of rice in the 2018-19 (Jul-Jun) kharif season, up from 97.5 mln tn the previous year despite patchy rains. The government is likely to soon release its first advance kharif crop output estimates for 2018-19. Area under the crop has risen this year and weather is largely favourable. It is expected to boost the yield of the crop. Farmers across the country had sown paddy over 38.6 mln ha, up 2.4% from a year ago. While leading producer Uttar Pradesh saw a marginal fall in acreage from the previous year, key growers Punjab, West Bengal, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Haryana saw an increase.