India: Food Grain Soars
13 de maio de 2008 Wheat, rice, corn, and pulse production are all up in India for 2007/08, to a record total of 227.3 million tons, a full 10 million tons higher than in 2006/07. The US Dept. of Agriculture’s Foreign Agriculture Service (USDA-FAS) reports that while some observers of Indian agriculture are skeptical of the high grain production numbers, the Agriculture Ministry is attributing the increase to favorable growing conditions for the winter crops and greater distribution of improved seeds to farmers, improving yields despite a half a million hectare decrease in the planted area.
Most of the increase in wheat production was reported in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, whereas the major wheat growing states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana did not record any significant increase in production.
Despite damage from flooding during the growing season, the Indian government’s rice production estimate reached a record 95.7 million tons. The 2007/08 production estimate consisted of 82.8 million tons of 2007 fall harvested (kharif) production and 12.9 million tons of the 2008 spring harvested (rabi) production.
Total coarse grain production in was a record 39.7 million tons, 5.8 million tons higher than in 2006/07, with most of the increase in corn, which reached a record 18.5 million tons. Production of other coarse grains in 2007/08 includes 7.7 million tons of sorghum, 12.2 million tons of millet, and 1.3 million tons barley. The increase is attributed to higher international prices as India has become an exporter of corn, and there are no export restrictions on corn, unlike wheat and rice.
India’s total pulse production in 2008/09 is officially estimated at a record 15.2 million tons, one million tons above 2007/08 production. The total includes 6.1 million tons of chickpeas, 3 million tons of pigeon peas, 1.6 million tons of urd (black matpe), and 1.6 million tons of mung beans.
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