India -- Pulse Supply-Demand Forecast - April 2011

VANCOUVER - Apr 6/11 - SNS -- The Indian government's third advance estimate for this season's rabi and kharif season crops confirms that total foodgrain production across the 2010-11 season will set a new record, as will output of pulses.

Agriculture and Food Processing Industries Minister, Shri Sharad Pawar reports India produced 235.88 million metric tons (MT) of foodgrains during 2010-11 compared to 218.11 million MT in the previous year, surpassing the previous record of 234.47 million MT achieved in 2008-09.

It may also be noted that the production of wheat, estimated at 84.27 million MT, is an all time record. Similarly, production of pulses, estimated at 17.29 million MT, is an all time record.

Despite a setback in the production of rice due to drought in some of the major rice producing areas in the country, foodgrains production reached the record level due to a significant improvement in production of wheat, pulses and coarse cereals.

Contributed by steady increase in production of soyabean and a quantum jump of 2.62 million MT over its production during 2009-10, the oilseeds production, estimated at 30.25 million MT, is also an all time record.

Cotton production has increased from 24.23 million bales in 2009-10 to 33.93 million bales in 2010-11. The production of sugarcane, which had attained a record level of 355.52 million MT during 2006-07 and declined in subsequent years, has again started witnessing increasing trend with an estimated production of 340.55 million MT in the current year.