Food grain output may dip 10-15% this year

Food grains production in the country would go down by 10-15 per cent in the current fiscal due to deficient rainfall, an agriculture ministry official said n Tuesday.

The farm sector has suffered a setback in the beginning of the Kharif season due to deficient rainfall and a large area was left unsown, additional secretary in department of agriculture and co-operation, N K Das told reporters.

Subsequently, "There will be a 10-15 per cent decline in production of food grains in the country this year," Das said. The official said the production of food grains would also be affected by the huge gap between the periods of rainfall. He, however, said the recent spell of rains would bring some relief to the agricultural production in the country.

"The rainfall which occurred in the last few weeks will certainly stabilise the production," Das said. "We hope that there would be recovery but the growth in agricultural production will not be the same as it was earlier," he said.