All seems to be well on the farm production front. The Government will soon announce the fourth advance estimate of crop production for 2007-08, pegging wheat output at a record high of 78 million tonnes (mt).

Usually, the fourth advance estimate is made public in July, but indications are that the Government may announce it earlier as it is in a fire-fighting mode to deal with rising prices.

“The estimate of wheat output in 2007-08 is likely to be revised upwards to around 78 mt,” said chairman and managing director of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) Alok Sinha, adding that the fourth official crop production estimates would be released soon.

Sinha is also happy with the Government’s build-up of buffer stocks in the current marketing season. The wheat stock has swelled to 22.2 mt and that of rice to 25.9 mt. The wheat stock is well above the maximum buffer norm for the year (on July 1) which is 17.1 mt. The maximum buffer norm for rice at 26.9 mt will also be met as the Government’s purchase will continue till the end of September, he said.

Wheat production has increased from 69.35 mt in 2005-06 to 75.81 mt in 2006-07, keeping pace with the growing demand. For the year 2007-08, the Government had fixed the wheat production target at 75.50 mt, which was surpassed as the third advance estimate projected 76.78 mt output in late April this year. The official estimate then also projected a record foodgrain production in 2007-08 at 227.32 mt, which included 95.68 mt of rice.

... contd.