Government sees better agricultural output this year on hopes of good monsoon

NEW DELHI: The country's farm production is likely to be better in 2016-17 with forecast of above normal monsoon after two consecutive years of drought, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said today.

The Met office today predicted that there will be 'above normal' monsoon this year, easing fears over farm and economic growth.

"As per IMD forecast, definitely agriculture production will be better in 2016-17," Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said on the sidelines of a national kharif conference here.

"We had deficient monsoon last two years. There was 12 per cent deficient rains in 2014-15. And the following year, there was 14 per cent deficiency. But we were better prepared. State governments also cooperated and results were there all to see," he added.

India's foodgrain production declined to 252.02 million tonnes in 2014-15 crop year (July-June) from the record 265.04 million tonnes in the previous year, due to poor monsoon.

The output is estimated to rise slightly to 253.16 in the ongoing 2015-16 crop year as the country received 14 per cent less rains.

Two consecutive bad monsoons have led to farm distress and water scarcity in the country.

Stating that possibility of above normal monsoon would bring big relief to farmers, Agriculture Secretary Shobhana K Patnaik said, "Agriculture is still monsoon dependent. Good rainfall means good production. The coming Kharif season will be good."

There is high stress due to two consecutive years of drought and timely onset of monsoon will encourage timely sowing of kharif (summer) crops from June, Patnaik said.

"We hope agriculture production to be better than this year. We are fully geared for the kharif sowing. States have been asked to make advance preparation to ensure sufficient supply of all inputs like seeds," Patnaik told PTI on the sidelines of the conference.

Sharing that the government has chalked out a strategy to boost pulses and oilseeds output in the kharif season, the secretary said, "Two-thirds of pulses production comes from the rabi (winter) season and one-third from kharif season. The states are fully prepared to take up pulses in a big way."

Similarly, state governments have been asked to increase area under oilseeds and ensure sufficient supply of seeds and support system to farmers, he added.

The country is making efforts to become self-sufficient in pulses and oilseeds production, and reduce import dependency.