India’s overall foodgrain production in the 2012-13 crop marketing year that would end in June 2013 was expected to be around 250 million tonnes, nine million tonnes less than last year’s revised record output of almost 259 million tonnes because of low production during the kharif sowing season, Agriculture Secretary Ashish Bahuguna said today.

According to the government’s first advanced estimate, foodgrain production during the 2012-13 kharif season is expected to be almost 9.8 per cent less than the kharif production of 2011-12 because of an uneven southwest monsoon in most parts of the country.