Despite Mulayam snub, Akhilesh says will go with Congress in 2019

BOUNTIFUL Agriculture ministry raises production estimates by 8.7% at 273 million tonnes

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said on Tuesday that his party’s alliance with the Congress will continue and they will together contest the 2019 parliamentary elections.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister reaffirmed his stand after his father and SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav blamed the alliance with the Congress for the defeat in the February-March state polls.

“We will contest the 2019 general elections together, and strongly,” Akhilesh said after attending a function with his parliamentarian-wife, Dimple Yadav. Speculation swirled recently that the alliance could break as the Congress decided to fight the civic elections in the state alone. But Akhilesh cleared doubts, saying it could be part of a strategy. His decision to continue the SP’s ties with the Congress came at a time his uncle, Shivpal Yadav, announced the formation of a Samajwadi Secular Morcha, a secular front of like-minded parties.

The agriculture ministry on Tuesday raised its estimates of foodgrain production to 273.4 million tonnes, marking 2016-17 as the best crop year in India’s history. The latest estimates are higher than the 272 million tonnes forecast by the ministry in its second advance estimates released in mid-February.

The record food production is 8.7% higher than the 252 million tonnes produced the year before (2015-16) when a drought cut output, and 8 million tonnes (3.2%) more than the previous record of 265 million tonnes in 2013-14.

“As a result of very good rainfall during monsoon 2016 and various policy initiatives taken by the government, the country has witnessed record foodgrain production in the current year,” the agriculture ministry said in a statement.

Higher production of key crops such as wheat, rice and pulses will not only keep food inflation in check, but also lead to lower imports, besides supporting the rebound in agriculture growth rate (estimated at 4.4% in 2016-17).

Consecutive droughts in 2014 and 2015 led to a surge in imports of pulses and wheat during 2015-16.

The record production in 2016-17 came on the back of a normal monsoon last year, despite an acute drought in several southern states such as Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Reinforcing the estimates put out in February, the latest numbers from the farm ministry show that production of key crops such as rice, wheat and pulses will be at record levels.

While wheat production is estimated to rise by 5.5% to 97.4 million tonnes in 2016-17 (compared to 92.3 million tonnes in 2015-16), production of pulses is likely to increase 37% from 16.4 million tonnes last year to 22.4 million tonnes in 2016-17.

Production of rice, the most popular staple, is estimated to increase by about five million tonnes to 109.2 million tonnes in 2016-17 from 104.4 million tonnes in the previous year.

Other than foodgrains, the estimates show that production of oil seeds is set to increase 29% to 32.5 million tonnes in 2016-17 from 25.3 million tonnes in the previous year.

However, sugarcane production is expected to be lower at 306 million tonnes (2016-17), compared to 348 million tonnes the year before. Production of cotton is set to rise to 32.6 million bales in 2016-17 (one bale equals 170 kg) from 30 million bales in the previous year. However, this is lower than 35.9 million bales produced in 2013-14.