India's wheat production set to rise by 10%: Study

Hyderabad: Production of wheat in the country will likely see a 10.6% rise in the Rabi season of 2019-20. The output of the staple is expected to touch 113.06 million tons this time compared to 102.19 million tons last year, according to a study by private weather station Skymet.

Though India is the second-largest producer of wheat worldwide, the report – Rabi Estimate Report 2020 – observed a major expansion in the cultivated area under wheat in recent years in Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Experts say a sharp rise in minimum support price and government procurements are the two major drivers of the increase in acreage.

Weather played sport in 2019, which also ensured adequate soil moisture, prompting growers in MP, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra to expand the crop cultivation. The yields are likely to increase this season as the conditions such as light showers and cold wave are in favour of tillering.

Acreage in Uttar Pradesh has remained more or less unchanged over last year. UP is still the largest producer of wheat in the country accounting for about 32 per cent of the total production.

Wheat production in India has shown an increasing trend, from 95.85 million tons in 2013-14 to 102.19 million tons in 2018-19. This has been attributed to expansion in the cultivated area and the marginal increase in productivity.

Around 90 per cent of the cereal comes from the traditional wheat-growing regions like UP, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan. However, the productivity in Haryana has declined in recent years.

Meanwhile, states like West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh and Assam which are not known for wheat have seen a growth in productivity of the Rabi crop.