New Delhi, March 19 : As per ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare’s Annual Report 2017-18 India has been able to achieve a broad-based record foodgrain production in the year 2016-17. “As per the Fourth Advance Estimates for 2016-17, as a result of significant increases in the area coverage and productivity of all major pulses, total production of pulses during 2016-17 is estimated at a record level of 22.95 million tonnes. The production during 2016-17 is higher by 6.61 million tonnes than the previous year’s production of 16.35 million tonnes,” the report said. In the last four years, Madhya Pradesh topped the chart for the highest production of Pulses (Thousand Tonnes) from 2013-14 to 2016-17 while for the same period NCT of Delhi stood at the bottom of the chart from 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2016-17 while for 2015-16 Goa was at the bottom of the list. As per ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare’s Annual Report 2017-18 India’s total geographical area is 328.7 million hectares. Out of this, the reported net sown area is 140.1 million hectares and the gross cropped area is 198.4 million hectares with a cropping intensity of 142 percent (figures as per the land use statistics 2014-15).
The net area sown works out to be 43 percent of the country’s total geographical area while the net irrigated area is 68.4 million hectares.
