Data from Economic Survey 2024-25 reveals the southern state's growing importance in food security, with yields surpassing its southern neighbours and matching or exceeding northern states.
Published Feb 03, 2025 | 6:25 PM ⚊ Updated Feb 03, 2025 | 6:25 PM
Karnataka dominated sunflower cultivation. (iStock)
Karnataka led India’s agricultural output in three major crops last year whilst showing strong performance across commercial and food crops, according to the recently released Economic Survey 2024-25.
The survey data reveals the southern state’s growing importance in food security, with yields surpassing its southern neighbours and matching or exceeding northern states.
With a production of 5.71 lakh tonnes of maize, representing 15.16 percent of national output, the state edged past Bihar’s 5.63 lakh tonnes, Madhya Pradesh’s 4.34 lakh tonnes.
Production figures for tur (red gram) reached 1.02 lakh tonnes in Karnataka, contributing nearly 30 percent of India’s total and outperforming Maharashtra’s 89,000 tonnes and Uttar Pradesh’s 40,000 tonnes.
Most impressive was the state’s dominance in sunflower cultivation, where its 7,000-tonne output represented 41.97 percent of national production, substantially ahead of Haryana’s 3,000 tonnes (16.61 percent) and Odisha’s 2,000 tonnes (13.26 percent).
Among coarse cereals, Karnataka claimed second place nationally, producing 7.79 lakh tonnes or 13.68 percent of India’s total, following Rajasthan’s 8.09 lakh tonnes but surpassing Madhya Pradesh’s 5.84 lakh tonnes.
Sugarcane production placed Karnataka third nationally with 41.81 lakh tonnes, contributing 9.23 percent to national output, behind agricultural powerhouses Uttar Pradesh (215.81 lakh tonnes) and Maharashtra (112.09 lakh tonnes), which together produced over 72 percent of India’s sugarcane.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
