The agricultural ministry announced on Friday that the production of food grains in the 2023–24 crop year (July–June) is predicted to decrease by 6% to 309.34 million tonne (MT), from 329 MT in the previous crop year, due to a decrease in the output of rice and pulses. Because of the inconsistent monsoon rainfall during the previous crop year, rice output is expected to decrease to 123.8 MT from 125 MT in the second advance estimate of foodgrain production.The output of summer crops is not included in this prediction of rice output; this information will be included in the third advance estimate of food grain production, which is scheduled for release in June.The estimate for the production of food grains for the current crop year will be amended later, according to officials, even though the rabi crop harvesting has already begun.An official announcement stated that “these figures are subject to change in the successive estimates upon the receipt of better yield estimates based on crop cutting experiments.” 332 MT was the goal for foodgrain output for the current harvest. The main rab crop, wheat, is expected to yield 112 MT, a little bit more than the previous harvest year.

Source: Financial express