Record food grains production in 2011 facilitates Food Bill

New Delhi: The agriculture sector performed exceedingly well in 2011, with record foodgrains production of over 240 million tonnes giving enough leeway for the government to lift a ban on exports of wheat and non-basmati rice and introduce the Food Security Bill in Parliament.

Farmers' long-standing demand for crop loans at a 4% rate of interest was met during the year, although with a rider that the facility would be available to only those farmers that pay their crop loans on time.

A sharp rise in the farm credit target by Rs 1,00,000 crore to Rs 4,75,000 crore and the launch of new schemes with a total outlay of Rs 1,500 crore to raise production of nutri-cereals, fodder, palm oil, vegetables and protein supplements were the other major highlights of the year.

These items -- and not wheat and rice -- were the major contributors to food inflation, which remained high almost throughout the year before falling sharply to nearly a four-year low of 1.81% for the week ended December 10.

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Helped by timely and bountiful rains last year, the agriculture sector bounced back with a record harvest of 241.56 million tonnes of foodgrains in the 2010-11 crop year, with production of wheat, pulses and coarse cereals touching an all-time high.
In the 2009-10 crop year (July-June), food grains production fell by 16 million tonnes to 218 million tonnes due to a severe drought in 2009.

A noteworthy performance was seen in pulses and oilseeds production, on which the government has focused its efforts to make India self-sufficient and reduce dependence on imports.