The Union agriculture ministry has set a target of a record 3,320 lakh tonnes (332 million tonnes) production of foodgrains for the year 2023-24 as against the latest estimate of 3,235 lakh tonnes produced the previous year.
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurated National Conference on Agriculture for Kharif Campaign 2023-24 on Wednesday. The objective of this conference was to review and assess the crop performance during the preceding crop seasons and fix crop-wise targets for the Kharif season. Target for the production of pulses has been fixed at 292.5 lakh tonnes compared to 278.1 lakh tonnes this year and oilseeds production will be increased from 400 lakh tonnes to 440 lakh tonnes in 2023-24.
The target for millet production for 2023-24 has been set at 170 lakh tonnes from 159.1 lakh tonnes in 2022-23.
The government said its strategy would be to increase crop area through inter-cropping, crop diversification, and productivity enhancement by introducing higher-yield seeds and adopting suitable agronomic practices in low-yielding regions.
Going back to the 2022-23 season, record production of rice, maize, gram, pulses, rapeseed and mustard, oilseeds and sugarcane was estimated.
Manoj Ahuja, Secretary at Agriculture and farmers welfare ministry said that the country has maintained an increasing trend in food grain production since 2015-16. The government has taken measures to augment crop and livestock productivity, ensure certainty of returns to the farmers through price support (Minimum Support Price), promote crop diversification and has made focused interventions to enhance credit availability, facilitate mechanization and boost horticulture and organic farming.
As a result, he said agriculture exports touched a historic high growth in 2021-22. As compared to previous year 2020-21, the agri and allied export has increased from 41.86 billion USD in 2020-21 to 50.24 billion USD in 2021-22, an increase of 19.99 per cent.
During the conference, detailed presentations were also made on the status of fertilizer supply.
Kharif crops, dependent on rainfall, are typically sown May-July and harvested from October-November. Rice, maize, and soybean are some of the kharif crops. (ANI)
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