India’s foodgrains production, aided by timely and uniform spread of monsoon, is headed for a new record this year, said Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.

However, he expressed concerns over pulses and edible oilseeds output as the country is still import-dependent to meet the rising demand.

“We will be approaching an all-time record production of foodgrains this year when the second advance estimates will be announced sometime in February,” Pawar told the 85th Annual General Meeting of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research on Wednesday.

“The efforts of scientists in developing the high-yielding, input-efficient, disease-tolerant varieties/hybrids along with widespread adoption by the farmers are visible in increasing the farm productivity, quality and quantity,” Pawar said.

India’s foodgrains production had touched an all-time high of 259 million tonnes in 2011-12, but fell marginally in the subsequent year to around 255 mt on account of poor rains.

Cultivable area

Pawar said despite a stagnant cultivable area at around 142 million hectares, foodgrains production in the country over the past 10 years has increased from 198 mt in 2004-05 to 259 mt in 2011-12 at an average of about 6 mt per annum.

During this period, production of wheat and rice — the two main staple cereals have reported an increase of 50 mt.

Research programmes

Pawar exhorted the ICAR scientists to formulate research programmes that are more focussed and contribute in realising the national goal of 4 per cent growth in agriculture.

With climate variability becoming a major issue, Pawar told the scientists that it was the government’s constant endeavour to enhance the resilience of Indian agriculture against natural disasters and climate changes.

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