Govt hopeful of 'bountiful harvest' amid food inflation headwinds

Government hopes for bountiful food grain production despite erratic weather conditions, taking pre-emptive measures to control food inflation ahead of 2024 elections.

With India's farm sector remaining resilient to erratic weather conditions, the government is hopeful of having bountiful food grain production even as it tries hard to keep a lid on food inflation ahead of general elections in 2024.

From floods to droughts, extreme weather events this year have not only raised fears over foodgrain production but also created an artificial supply scare that forced the government to take a slew of pre-emptive measures, including export curbs on certain commodities.

Besides, the government subsidised the sale of a few commodities to improve domestic supply and arrest the sharp spikes in retail prices of wheat, rice, edible oils, pulses, tomato, and onion.

While the efforts to control food prices are still on, the government is closely watching the prospects of rabi (winter) crops, especially wheat and pulses, which are sown now and will be ready for harvest closer to 2024 general elections in April-May.

Food inflation remained at an elevated level throughout the year after touching a low of 2.96% in May. In November, it stood at 8.7%.

Agricultural crops are grown in two seasons -- kharif (summer) and rabi (winter) -- between July 2023 and June 2024. Kharif crops have been harvested while rabi crops are sown now.

The Agriculture Ministry has come out with its initial estimates which do not give a positive picture due to the projection of a likely slight drop in the 2023 kharif food grain output at 148.56 million tonnes as against 155.7 million tonnes in the year-ago period due to "below average" rainfall in the four-month (June-September) monsoon season amid strengthening of El Nino conditions.