Andhra Pradesh has set a foodgrain production target of 218 lakh tonnes for 2012-13 against 182.58 lakh tonnes last year.
With forecast of monsoon remaining hopeful, the State expects the rabi foodgrain production to cross the 100-lakh tonnes after its debacle last year with a mere 77 lakh tonnes. This is far below the average of 88.56 lakh tonnes for the season.
Mr Kanna Lakshminarayana, Minister for Agriculture, has said that the Ministry estimated a production of 114 lakh tonnes for the kharif against 106 lakh tonnes last year. The average production for the season is 96 lakh tonnes.
Talking to reporters after releasing the Agriculture Action Plan for 2012-13 here on Thursday, the Minister said the oilseed production would come back to the normal production levels to reach 24 lakh tonnes. Last year had been a bad year for this sector as production levels dropped to 12.63 lakh tonnes.