Poor monsoon likely to hit 2015-16 kharif output by 1.78%

Declining for the fourth consecutive year, India's foodgrain production is projected to drop by 1.78 percent to 124.05 million tonnes in the 2015-16 kharif season due to poor monsoon and drought-like situation in some states like Karnataka.

Foodgrain output was 126.31 million tonnes (MT) in the kharif (summer) season of the 2014-15 crop year (July-June). The country had achieved a record 131.27 MT foodgrain production in 2011-12.

Releasing the first advance estimates for the 2015-16 kharif crops, the Agriculture Ministry said, "The cumulative rainfall during the current monsoon season has been deficient by 15 percent, i.e. higher than rainfall deficit of 12 percent in 2014-15."

As a result, the kharif production of rice, coarse cereals and pulses, which are part of foodgrain basket, is likely to decline this year as compared to the fourth advance estimate of kharif foodgrain output for 2014-15. The Ministry, however, said that these are preliminary estimates and would undergo revision based on feedback from the states.