Increasing agricultural output may reduce inflation level

The increasing agricultural output in the country will go a long way in reducing the inflation levels in the country, National Co-operative Consumers Federation (NCCF) chairman, Virendra Singh said.

NCCF functions under the administrative control of the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution.

As per the advance estimates of crop production for 2010-11, production is expected to touch 235.88 million tons as compared to 218.11 million tons in the previous year.

This is the highest ever food grains production, as the highest production recorded earlier was 234.47 million tons during 2008-09, agriculture ninister Sharad Pawar had recently said.

Except rice, all other crops have recorded a historically high production. The country's wheat production stands at 84.27 million tons, pulses 17.29 million tons, oil seeds 30.25 million tons and cotton 33.93 million bales, Singh's statement said.

To increase the production of pulses, Rs300 crore have been allotted, which will help the farmers in 60,000 villages, Singh said.

Singh pointed out that the ministry will spend Rs300 crore to bring 60,000 hectares of area under palm oil plantation. The initiative will yield about 3 lakh metric tons of palm oil annually within 5 years.