New Delhi, Aug 28 : Food grain production in the country in 2017-18 crop year will be record 284.83 million tonne (MT) as per the fourth advance estimates of the Agriculture Ministry released on Tuesday, registering a rise of 9.72 MT over the last year's total production.

Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said rice output would be 112.91 MT and that of wheat 99.70 MT, as compared to 109.70 MT and 98.51 MT, respectively, in 2016-17.

"I am happy to share the 4th advanced estimates of food grain production for the year 2017-18. The country witnesses record food grain production estimated at 284.83 million tonnes," Singh said in a Tweet.

The Minister also said that horticulture production in 2017-18 would be 306.81 MT in 2017-18 as against 300.64 MT in 2016-17.

In 2016-17, the total food grain production stood at 275.11 MT.

As per the estimates, the country will also produce 46.99 MT of coarse cereals, 28.72 MT of maize, 25.23 MT of pulses, 11.23 MT of gram and 3.56 MT of urad (split black gram).

Production of tur (arhar or pigeon pea) is expected to be around 4.25 MT this year.

On year-on-year basis, production of coarse cereals this year will be higher by 5.59 MT, while pulse output would be higher by 2.10 MT.

Total oilseeds production during 2017-18 is estimated at 31.31 MT, showing marginal hike compared to that last year.

Soyabean production is likely to be 10.98 MT of soybean, 9.18 MT of groundnut, 8.32 MT of mustard and rapeseed, and 1.57 MT of castor seed.

Total production of sugarcane this year is expected to be 376.90 MT as against 342.04 MT in 2016-17.

As per the estimates, production of cotton would be 34.89 million bales (each of 170 kg), which is higher by 2.31 million bales than the production of 32.58 million bales in 2016-17.

 

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A photo of a white and blue train in the middle of snow-covered mountains and tall trees is going viral on social media. Those sharing it claimed that this breathtaking view was from the Kashmir Valley and that this train was a Vande Bharat.

Sharing the photo on Facebook, one person wrote, "This photograph is not from Switzerland. It's from our beautiful India. The view of the Vande Bharat train traveling through the snow-covered valleys of Kashmir is truly breathtaking".

India Today Fact Check found that this photo is not real and likely made using Twitter’s Grok AI chatbot. However, the Vande Bharat Express will soon be launched in Kashmir.

OUR PROBE

We noticed a few inconsistencies in the viral photo. Being an electric train, Vande Bharat Express trains have high-rise pantographs that collect power from overhead electric wires running over the tracks. However, the pantographs are missing in the viral photo, and the electric wires are running on the side of the train instead of being overhead.

We also observed the word “GROK” written at the bottom-right corner of the viral picture. Grok is an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by xAI, a company founded by Elon Musk. Among other use cases, the chatbot is commonly used by X users for generating images that bear its watermark. It is thus likely that this photo was created using Grok AI.

Reverse searching the viral photo, we found a Facebook post dated December 28, 2024. It contained the viral photo, along with other similar photos of trains running in the snowy landscape. The caption stated that these photos were AI-generated.

We also ran the viral photo through various AI detection tools such as Hive Moderation and Is it AI. Their results also stated that there was substantial evidence of generative AI being used to create the photo.

 

It is noteworthy that the Indian Railways is planning to introduce a new Vande Bharat Express train that will operate between Katra and Srinagar railway stations, making it the first semi-high-speed train to run in the Kashmir Valley. The train is currently undergoing trials and is expected to be launched after January 20, 2025. It is said to have additional features, such as advanced heating systems, so that it can operate smoothly in extreme weather conditions.

Thus, it is more than clear that the viral photo making the rounds on social media was AI-generated.