The 1^st Advance Estimates of Production of major Kharif crops for 2014-15 have been released by the Department of Agriculture & Cooperation on 19^th September, 2014. The assessment of production of different crops is based on the feedback received from States and validated with information available from other sources. The estimated production of various crops as per the 1^st Advance Estimates for 2014-15 vis-à-vis the comparative estimates for the years 2001-02 onwards is enclosed.

Due to delayed/deficient rainfall, area coverage under most of the crops during current kharif season has declined. Erratic rainfall and dry spells in several parts of the country have also impacted productivity of crops. Due to lower area coverage and productivity, production of most of the crops is expected to be lower than their record production levels achieved during the last year. However, these are preliminary estimates and do not take into account the positive impact of rainfall of September 2014. Also, as per past experience, the first advance estimates reported by States are generally conservative and subsequently undergo upward revision.

As per First Advance Estimates for 2014-15, total production of Kharif Foodgrains is estimated at 120.27 million tonnes which is lower by 8.97 million tonnes as compared to record  production of 129.24 million tonnes of foodgrains achieved during Kharif 2013-14.

Production of kharif Rice estimated at 88.02 million tonnes, though lower by 3.67 million tonnes as compared to last year’s record production of 91.69 million tonnes, is higher by 1.34 million tonnes than its 5 years’ average production. Delayed arrival of monsoon impacted sowing of Jowar, Bajra and Maize in some major States such as Andhra Pradesh, Gujrat, Karanataka, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, leading to significant decline of 18.56 lakh hectares in the overall area under kharif Coarse Cereals than the last year. Decline in area has adversely affected production of above crops, leading to decline in the total production of kharif Coarse Cereals, which is estimated to be lower at 27.05 million tonnes as compared to 31.53 million tonnes during 2013-14. Decline in area under Tur and Moong has also affected production of Kharif Pulses which is estimated at 5.20 million tonnes as against their production of 6.02 million tonnes during Kharif 2013-14.

Among Oilseeds, on account of decline in area and productivity in Gujarat, total production of Groundnut in the country has suffered considerably and declined to 5.02 million tonnes as compared to its record production of 7.81 million tonnes during 2013-14. Production of Soyabean estimated at 11.82 million tonnes is also marginally lower than the last year. Due to setback in the production of above two major Oilseeds, total production of kharif Oilseeds is expected to decline to 19.66 million tonnes i.e. 2.75 million tonnes lower than their record production of 22.41 million tonnes achieved during Kharif 2013-14.

Production of Sugarcane estimated at 342.79 million tonnes, though lower by 7.23 million tonnes than the last year, is higher by 5.40 million tonnes than its average production. Production of Cotton estimates at 34.62 million bales (of 170 kg each) is also lower by 1.97 million bales than its record production of 36.59 million bales during 2013-14 but higher by 2.02 million bales than the average production. Production of Jute estimated at 10.87 million bales (of 180 kg each) is also marginally lower than its last year’s production but higher than the average production of last five years.

As per 1^st Advance Estimates, the estimated production of major crops during Kharif 2014-15 is as under:

Ø  Foodgrains  –  120.27 million tonnes

·   Rice  –  88.02  million tonnes

·   Coarse Cereals  –  27.05 million tonnes

·   Maize  –  16.03 million tonnes

·   Pulses  –  5.20 million tonnes

·   Tur  –  2.74 million tonnes

·   Urad  –  1.15 million tonnes

Ø   Oilseeds  –  19.66 million tonnes

·   Soyabean  –  11.82 million tonnes

·   Groundnut  –  5.02 million tonnes

·   Castorseed – 1.96 million tonnes

Ø   Cotton  –  34.62 million bales (of 170 kg each)

Ø   Sugarcane – 342.79 million tonnes

SS:CP: 1^st Adv.(19-09-2014)