The area under rice continues to trail despite sowing of rabi crops gathering momentum.
Data from the Agriculture Ministry showed wheat plantings at over 227.45 lakh hectares (lh) against last year’s 220.82 lh.
Wheat acreage is now three per cent higher, year on year, and sowing has been completed on nearly 80 per cent of the normal sown area of 286.4 lh.
Wheat acreage is up in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, while it is lower in Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, West Bengal, Karnataka and Haryana. The country had produced a record 93.9 million tonnes of wheat last year. The Government had asked farmers to complete wheat sowing in northern India by November 30, as the late-sown crop is vulnerable to terminal heat damage during February-March.
While acreage under most crops is higher on year, rice sowing is lagging. Pulses sowing has finally caught up and is higher than last year. Coverage of pulses improved to 121.22 lh (120.60 lh). The Government is banking on the rabi pulses crop to tide over the shortfall in kharif output due to erratic rains.
Rice acreage is currently at 1.42 lh, against 1.95 lh last year due to lower acreage in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Sowing of oilseeds too has got a boost on account of higher minimum support price and better soil moisture in growing areas. Oilseeds have been sown on over 79 lh so far this season, up from 74 lh during the same period a year ago. While mustard acreage is up 3.3 per cent on year at 63.6 lh, groundnut acreage is 15.4 per cent higher at 3,52,000 ha and that of sunflower at 6,62,200 ha (3,15,300 ha).
Coverage of coarse grains is marginally higher at 53 lh (52 lh). The overall area under rabi crops is higher than last year’s coverage. Rabi crops acreage stands at 482 lakh hectares (lh) compared with 469.7 lh during the same period last year, according to the Agriculture Ministry.