Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has released final production estimates for the 2023-24 crop year. As per the final estimates total food grain production for 2023-24 is of 3322.98 lakh tonnes which is 26.11 lakh tonnes higher than the total food grian production of 3296.87 lakh tonnes produced in 2022-23. The increase in production is largely attributed to higher production of of rice, wheat, and coarse grains.
The Department of Agriculture has reported that rice production for the 2023-24 year reached at 1378.25 lakh tonnes, an increase of 20.70 lakh tonnes from last year's (2022-23) 1357.55 lakh tonnes. Wheat production also set a record this year at 1132.92 lakh tonnes, up by 27.38 lakh tonnes compared to 1105.54 lakh tonnes in 2022-23. Coarse grains production was recorded at 175.72 lakh tonnes, slightly higher than the 173.21 lakh tonnes produced the previous year. Additionally, pulses production for 2023-24 was 242.46 lakh tonnes, while oilseeds production reached 396.69 lakh tonnes.
Tur production was reported at 34.17 lakh tonnes, while chana production reached 110.39 lakh tonnes. Groundnut production stood at 101.80 lakh tonnes, and soybean production was recorded at 130.62 lakh tonnes. Additionally, rapeseed and mustard production totaled 132.59 lakh tonnes. Sugarcane production was significantly high at 4531.58 lakh tonnes, and cotton production reached 325.22 lakh bales. Furthermore, maize production was noted at 376.65 lakh tonnes.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, drought-like conditions persisted in southern states including Maharashtra during 2023-24. Rajasthan did not receive rain for a long time, especially in August, which had a negative impact on the Rabi season. This drought affected the production of pulses, coarse grains, soybean and cotton. This estimate has been prepared mainly on the basis of information received from the states and union territories.