Rich Harvest
First Advance Estimates of production of major kharif crops 2023-24 are encouraging
Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has released first Advance Estimates of production of major Kharif crops for 2023-24. The estimation of Crop production relies on data provided by States and is subsequently validated using information from various alternative sources. These sources include reports from the Crop Weather Watch Group (CWWG), Remote Sensing estimates, estimates based on econometric modeling, inputs collected from farmer surveys, and historical trends in crop estimation.
As per First Advance Estimates, the estimated production of major Kharif crops for 2023-24 is as under:
Foodgrains – 1485.69 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT)
Rice – 1063.13 Lakh Metric Tonnes
Maize – 224.82 Lakh Metric Tonnes
Tur – 34.21 Lakh Metric Tonnes
Moong – 14.05 Lakh Metric Tonnes
Urad – 15.05 Lakh Metric Tonnes
Oilseeds – 215.33 Lakh Metric Tonnes
Groundnut – 78.29 Lakh Metric Tonnes
Soybean – 115.28 Lakh Metric Tonnes
Sugarcane – 4347.93 Lakh Metric Tonnes
Cotton – 316.57 Lakh bales (of 170 kg each)
Jute & Mesta – 91.91 Lakh bales (of 180 kg each)
Other cereal crops area such as Kharif Maize and Jowar is also estimated to be higher as compared to previous year as well as average area under these crops. Kharif Maize production is estimated at 224.82 Lakh Metric Tonnes as compared to average production of 213.51 Lakh Metric Tonnes registering an increase of about 11 Lakh Metric Tonnes.
For 2023-24, production of Kharif Nutri/coarse cereals is estimated at 351.37 LMT which is slightly higher than the average coarse cereals production of 350.91 LMT. The production of Shree Anna is estimated at 126.55 LMT during 2023-24.
The production of Tur is estimated at 34.21 LMT, which is approximately similar to the last year’s production. Further, the area under Urad is estimated at 30.73 lakh hectares which is approximately similar to the last year’s area of 30.98 lakh hectares. However, total Kharif pulses production for 2023-24 is estimated to be lower than previous year due to climatic conditions. Total Kharif pulses production during 2023-24 is estimated at 71.18 LMT.
Total production of sugarcane is estimated at 4347.93 LMT which is higher than average sugarcane production of 4222.55 LMT.
It’s important to note that this first Production assessment for 2023-24 (Kharif) is largely based on the average yield of last 3 years and may undergo change after receiving the yield estimates based on actual crop cutting experiments.
It may be noted that there are two major agricultural crop production seasons in India: kharif (monsoon season, June-September) and rabi (winter season, October-May). Most of the field crops are grown during the kharif season, including rice, cotton, soybean, sorghum, corn, sunflowers, pulses and millet. Wheat and barley are produced during the rabi season, as well as some corn and rice. The monsoon season typically accounts for more than 70 percent of the country’s total annual rainfall, and most of the kharif season crops’ water requirement is dependent on the four-month long southwest monsoon rain.
