Warning of an alarming 300 lakh (30 million) tonne fall in foodgrain output mainly due to drought, the Economic Survey has asked the government to take immediate remedial steps to substantially raise irrigation potential and overhaul the regulatory mechanism in agriculture.

Alarmed at the "vulnerability" of Indian agriculture to monsoon failures, the pre-Budget Survey tabled in Parliament on Thursday said, "It is time to rethink whether the country can afford irrigation through field flooding, which is basically wasteful, and evaluate more economic methods of irrigation."

Asking the government to accelerate diversification in agriculture, it said value addition in horticulture, floriculture and sericulture as also in food processing can yield rich dividends and infrastructure like cold storage must be strengthened through public-private partnership.

The Survey said the 13.6 per cent fall in foodgrain output to 183.2 million tonnes, lowest since 1996-97, is mainly due to the decline in kharif production from 111.5 million tonnes last year to 90.3 million tonnes this year, showing a decline of 10.09 per cent.

The rabi foodgrain output is also likely to drop to 92.9 million tonnes compared to last year's 100.5 million tonnes, a drop of 7.5 per cent, it said, adding "the effect of drought on oilseeds is expected to be severe and production may fall to 15.4 million tonnes from last year's 20.5 million tonnes."

Cautioning that water would emerge as a scarce resource, it said the earlier emphasis on raising irrigation potential has to be renewed with greater vigour, especially through watershed development.

PTI