India: Grain and Feed Annual

India is heading for its fifth consecutive bumper wheat harvest in the upcoming marketing year thanks to favorable weather conditions in the major wheat growing areas. Assuming normal weather conditions through the harvest (April-May), FAS New Delhi (Post) forecasts marketing year (MY) 2020/2021 (April-March) wheat production at 107 million metric tons (MMT) from 31.6 million hectares, compared to last year’s record harvest of 107.9 MMT, on an expected lower yield from last year’s record yield. Post forecasts MY 2021/2022 (October-September) rice production at 118 MMT from 44 million hectares with a trend yield of 4.02 MT/hectare. In MY 2020/2021, above-normal 2020 monsoon rains supported record yields. An increase in the government’s minimum support price program for rice next year will encourage farmers to favor rice over other crops. Assuming a normal monsoon this summer, MY 2021/2022 coarse grain production is forecast at 47.6 MMT, lower than the MY 2020/2021 record harvest of 49.2 million metric tons.