Andhra Pradesh govt. sets crop production target of 167 lakh MT for kharif

The Agriculture Department has prepared an action plan to achieve the targets of a crop acreage of 34.26 lakh hectares and production of 167.15 lakh metric tonnes (MT) in the coming kharif season.

The Agriculture Department has prepared an action plan to achieve the targets of a crop acreage of 34.26 lakh hectares and production of 167.15 lakh metric tonnes (MT) in the coming kharif season.

According to information, the government has targeted that the paddy should be cultivated at least in 15.63 lakh hectares, with a yield target of 5,470 kg per hectare. The government also eyeing a production of 85.47 lakh metric tonnes.

During the kharif season last year (2023), the total sown area for all crops including paddy was 24.98 lakh hectares. The government targeted paddy acreage of 15.88 lakh hectares in 2022 kharif, but could achieve 15.52 lakh hectares. This year (2024), the paddy production is estimated to be 85.47 lakh MT. The total sown area in the State was 34.62 lakh hectares in 2022 kharif. Of this, the target for paddy was 16.30 lakh hectares but teh actual sown area was 15.59 lakh hectares. 

The action plan for 2024 kharif includes 24 types of crops with paddy being the major crop. Paddy is estimated to be cultivated in 15.12 lakh hectares.

The government is eyeing a crop acreage of 20.02 lakh hectares for food grains and 6.58 lakh hectares for oil seeds. The cultivation of coarse grains is estimated to be in 2.19 lakh hectares. The cultivation of pulses such as red gram, green gram, etc. is 3.34 lakh hectares. Other crops such as cotton, sugarcane and tobacco would be in around 6 lakh hectares.

It is estimated that the total production of food grains, coarse grains, pulses, and oil seeds would be 167.15 lakh MT. The agriculture officials estimate that the cultivation would increase by 4 lakh hectares compared to the last kharif. The action plan is yet to be approved by the government, sources say.