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Though wheat acreage has picked up in the largest producing State of Uttar Pradesh, the total area covered under the main rabi cereal crop across the country so far, is still lower than corresponding last year’s levels.
Wheat acreage as on December 18 stood at 239.45 lakh hectares (lh) against last year’s 268.26 lh.
With farmers having taken up brisk sowing in the recent days, the shortfall in acreage in UP has now been reduced to around 12.46 lh from the previous week’s 20 lh.
So far, wheat has been planted on 74.59 lh in UP, while the State has set a target of 99 lh.
As farmers clear up their sugarcane fields with the progress of the crushing season, more area is expected to come under the cereal crop over next couple of weeks. Wheat planting in other major producers such as Punjab and Haryana is complete with acreages on par with last year’s levels of 34.3 lh and 24.66 lh respectively.
Madhya Pradesh is the other major State where the acreage is lower by 5.56 lh.
Higher temperatures, poor soil moisture and storage levels due to a weak South-West monsoon have impacted rabi plantings this year.
Storage levels dipMeanwhile, the water storage in the 91 major reservoirs of the country dropped further and stood at 49 per cent of the total capacity.
As on December 17, the water storage stood at 76.926 billion cubic metres (BCM) against a total storage capacity of 157.799 BCM.
The current storage is 75 per cent of the 10-year average for the period.
States such as Punjab, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have reported lower storages, while Himachal, Andhra and Tripura have reported an increase.
Gram area upAmong pulses, farmers have planted more of gram or chana on 79.17 lh (75.82 lh).
States such as Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra have reported higher acreage under pulses, while MP, UP and Rajasthan have seen a decline.
In oilseeds, rapeseed-mustard has been planted on 59.36 lh against 63.67 lh in corresponding last year.
Lower area has been reported in Rajasthan, MP, Andhra and Maharashtra.
However, the area under coarse cereals has witnessed an increase over last year, mainly driven by higher acreages under jowar at 35.59 lh (29.57 lh).
Rabi maize has been planted on 9.96 lh and rice on 11.79 lh.
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