The country’s total foodgrain production is estimated at 3288.52 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) for 2023-24 which is 211.00 LMT higher than the average foodgrain production of the last 5 years (2018-19 to 2022-23) of 3077.52 LMT, according to the third advance estimates released by the Ministry of Agriculture on Tuesday.

However, the estimate is slightly lower than foodgrain production of 2022-23 as some crops were impacted by an erratic monsoon in 2023-24.

However, the fact that the total production was higher than the five-year average reflects the resilience of the Indian agriculture sector, according to experts.

The total rice production in 2023-24 is estimated at 1367.00 LMT as compared to 1357.55 LMT in 2022-23, showing an increase of 9.45 LMT while the production of wheat is estimated at 1129.25 LMT which is higher by 23.71 LMT compared to the corresponding figure of the previous year, the estimates showed.

The production of Shree Anna (millets) is estimated at 174.08 LMT showing a marginal increase of 0.87 LMT over 2022-23.

The production of Nutri/Coarse Cereals is estimated at 547.34 LMT which is higher by 46.24 LMT compared to the average Nutri/ Coarse Cereals production.

The production of pulses went up during the year with the production of Tur estimated at 33.85 LMT which is marginally higher by 0.73 LMT than the production of 33.12 LMT in 2022-23. The production of lentils is estimated at 17.54 LMT which is higher by 1.95 LMT than the previous year’s production of 15.59 LMT.

The production of Soybean is estimated at 130.54 LMT and the production of Rapeseed & Mustard is estimated at 131.61 LMT which is higher by 5.18 LMT compared to last year’s production. The production of cotton is estimated at 325.22 Lakh Bales (of 170 Kg each) and the production of sugarcane is estimated at 4425.22 LMT, the figures showed.

--IANS