Smaller Than Expected Kharif Crop
VANCOUVER - Sep 24/12 - SNS -- India's kharif or monsoon season pulse crop will likely be smaller than hoped, according to the first advance estimates for the 2012-13 season from the country's Department of Agriculture.
Optimism that acreage reductions caused by a slow start to the monsoon season would be offset by yield gains from a strong finish were not reflected in the numbers. Production of all kharif season pulses was pegged at 5.26 million metric tons (MT), down from last year's 6.43 million MT result and below the recent five-year average of 5.79 million MT.
This summer's total food grain production is expected to reach 117.18 million (MT). In releasing the forecast, India's agriculture department noted, "Final estimates are generally 5 to 10% higher than the first estimates. Even as compared to the average of final estimates (118.86 MT), the current estimates are lower by 1.68 million MT or about 1.4% despite deficient and late rains this year."
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