Agriculture

The table shows that area under Wheat has been continuously increasing since 1966-67. The area under the crop was 23.76 lakh hectares in 2006-07 and 24.72 lakh hectares in 2007-08 showing a slight increase of 4.0 percent over 2006-07. The area under Paddy has also increased from 10.41 lakh hectares in 2006 to 10.75 lakh hectares in 2007. The area under commercial crops i.e. Sugarcane, Cotton and Oilseeds fluctuates every year. There has been decrease of 8.9 percent in area under Cotton during the year 2007-08 over 2006-07.

Agricultural Production
A remarkable increase in foodgrains production is visible in Haryana since 1970-71. Production of total foodgrains is likely to increase from 47.71 lakh tonnes in 1970-71 to 156.77 lakh tonnes in 2007-08 showing an increase of 228.59 percent. The Wheat and Paddy crops have played a major role in pushing up the agricultural production. The production of Rice which was 4.60 lakh tonnes in 1970-71 is likely to increase to 36.13 lakh tonnes in 2007-08 thereby showing the tremendous increase of 685.43 percent. Similarly, the production of Wheat which was 23.42 lakh tonnes in 1970-71 is likely to increase to 105.06 lakh tonnes during 2007-08 reflecting an increase of 348.59 percent.

The table below gives the production under major crops in the State:--
Agricultural Production
(000 tonnes)

Year	Wheat	Rice	Total Food-grains	Sugar Cane	Cotton	Oilseeds
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
1966-67	1059	223	2592	5100	288	92
1970-71	2342	460	4771	7070	373	99
1980-81	3490	1259	3963	4600	643	188
1990-91	6436	1834	6036	7800	1155	638
1995-96	7291	1847	9559	8090	1284	783
1996-97	7826	2463	10172	9020	1507	985
1997-98	2528	2556	11447	7500	1107	456
1998-99	8568	2432	11332	7010	874	653
1999-00	9650	2583	12105	7640	1304	605
2000-01	9669	2695	13065	8170	1383	563
2001-02	9437	2726	13295	9270	722	805
2002-03	9188	2468	13298	10650	1038	705
2003-04	9114	2790	12329	9280	1407	977
2004-05	9043	3010	13193	8230	2075	836
2005-06	8853	3194	12994	8310	1502	822
2006-07*	10055	3371	14763	9580	1814	835
2007-08*	10506	3613	15677	10500	1885	900

* Provisional
The production of Oilseeds and Sugarcane during the year 2007-08 is estimated as 9.00 and 105.00 lakh tonnes against 8.35 and 95.80 lakh tonnes respectively during the year 2006-07. The production of Cotton in the State is estimated to increase from 18.14 lakh bales in 2006-07 to 18.85 lakh bales in 2007-08 showing an increase of 3.9 percent.

Average Yield of Principal Crops
The average yield per hectare of Wheat and Paddy during 2007-08 in Haryana is estimated at 4250 and 3361 kilograms per hectare respectively. The average yield per hectare in respect of Wheat and Rice at all India level during 2005-06 was 2619 and 2102 kgs. per hectare, respectively, whereas in Haryana it was 3844 and 3051 kgs. per hectare respectively.

Yearwise average yield of wheat and rice in Haryana and at All India Level is given as under:-
( Kgs. per hectare)

Year	Haryana		India
Year	Wheat	Rice	Wheat	Rice
1	2	3	4	5
1990-91	3479	2775	2281	1740
1995-96	3697	2225	2483	1797
1996-97	3880	2964	2679	1882
1997-98	3660	2797	2485	1900
1998-99	3916	2239	2590	1921
1999-00	4165	2385	2778	1986
2000-01	4106	2557	2708	1901
2001-02	4103	2652	2762	2079
2002-03	4053	2724	2610	1744
2003-04	3937	2749	2713	2077
2004-05	3901	2939	2718	2026
2005-06	3844	3051	2619	2102
2006-07*	4232	3238	N.A.	N.A.
2007-08*	4250	3361	N.A.	N.A.

Though the yield rates of principal crops in the State are undoubtedly quite high while comparing with that of National level but with the introduction of bio-technology, there is enough scope to increase the yield rates further so as to bring these at par with the best in the world. The power of bio-technology to improve crop yield today is being recognized throughout the world. Haryana can take lead in this field by ensuring that research in the laboratories reaches the field through extension services.