Salt production in the country increased marginally in 2021-22 after dropping to a five-year low in 2020-21.

Gujarat was the major salt producer in the country. Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan were at a distant second and third spot, respectively, in salt production.

In a written reply in Rajya Sabha on Friday, Som Parkash, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, gave the state-wise salt production details for 2016-17 to 2021-22.

India produced 266.01 lakh tonnes (lt) of salt in 2021-22 against 265.52 lt in 2020-21. India’s salt production reached a level of 300.33 lt in 2018-19.

Gujarat’s share in total salt production in the country was at 227.65 lt in 2021-22 against 216.39 lt in 2020-21. This was followed by Tamil Nadu at 17.21 lt (23.93 lt) and Rajasthan at 16.90 lt (21.56 lt).

Andhra Pradesh’s salt production was at 3.08 lt (2.85 lt) during the period. Maharashtra and West Bengal produced 0.94 lt and 0.11 lt, respectively, during 2021-22. Other states such as Karnataka and Odisha produced 0.09 lt and 0.03 lt, respectively, during the period.

Peanut

Replying to a separate question on peanut production in the country, Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, said the Government has been implementing a Centrally-sponsored scheme — National Food Security Mission- Oilseeds and Oil palm (NFSM-OS & OP) — from 2018-19 to augment the availability of edible oils by increasing the production and productivity of nine oilseed crops including groundnut / peanut, and to reduce the import burden on the country.

India’s groundnut/peanut production was estimated at 100.87 lt during 2021-22 (third advance estimates). Of this, Gujarat’s share was at 45.02 lt, Rajasthan at 18.09 lt, and Tamil Nadu was at 9.49 lt.

The Government has allocated targets to the Gujarat government to carry out groundnut cluster demonstration on 6,000 hectares during kharif season, and 180 hectares during summer season under NFSM-OS in 2022-23, the Minister said.

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