New Delhi: India's wheat production is likely to decline by 4-5 percent in the current crop year from the initial estimates of 95.76 million tonnes due to unseasonal rains, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said on Tuesday .
"According to initial reports received from various states after unseasonal rains... The estimates show wheat production could drop by 4-5 percent this year," Singh said while addressing a conference on kharif crops here.
The Agriculture Ministry, in its second advanced estimate, has projected wheat production to drop slightly to 95.76 million tonnes in 2014-15 crop year (July-June) from 95.85 million tonnes in the previous year.
Unseasonal rains and hailstorms have damaged rabi (winter-sown) crops in about 113 lakh hectares of crop area in the country. Total cultivable area in rabi season stands at 600 lakh hectares, the Minister said.
Singh added that states have adequate funds under State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to provide financial assistance to farmers affected by the unseasonal rains.
The government has also set up an informal group of ministers, headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, to look into the issue of raising cap of financial assistance given to farmers whose crops have been affected due to unseasonal rains and other natural calamities.
