The Kharif production in the country is expected to touch 114.63 million tonnes this year. This is around 11 million tonnes more than the last year. According to an official press release giving the details of the first advance estimates of crop production, the rice output is likely to touch 80.4 million tonnes. The production of pulses will also be higher around six million tonnes as against 4.3 million tonnes in the last kharif season. Oil seeds, cotton and sugarcane production may also increase. The oil seeds output will be around 17.27 million tonnes, cotton production 335 lakh bales and sugarcane around 325 million tonnes. The Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said in New Delhi though the output is better than last year but it is lower than 2008-09. AIR correspondent reports that the Agriculture Secretary P.K. Basu earlier told AIR that the sector is expected to grow by four percent this year and it has potential to achieve five percent growth in the coming years. The Finance Minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee said yesterday that higher growth in agriculture sector is important to register higher economic growth. He reiterated that country is expected to register around 8.75 percent growth this fiscal.