New Delhi, Feb. 19 -- Despite flood in 15 States and loss of crops due to locust attack in Rajasthan, Punjab and Gujarat, record output in rice and wheat is likely, pushing up the foodgrains production in the country to an all-time high of around 291.95 million tonnes (MT) in the current year.

According to the second advance estimates of foodgrains production released by the Agriculture Ministry on Tuesday, the output projected for 2019-20 is 6.7 MT higher than the 2018-19 final estimates of 285.21 MT. The rice output during the same period is expected to be 117.47 MT (against 116.48 MT in 2018), while wheat is slated to hit a best-ever 106.21 MT (103.60 MT).

Wheat is the main rabi (winter) crop, harvesting of which will begin from next...