Rabi sowing has picked up pace as the end of sowing season approaches with total acreage of 628.34 lakh hectare till January 20, about 3.2 per cent higher than the average sowing in the last five years in the comparable period.
Wheat and pulses continue to drive growth in acreage while rice, coarse cereals and oilseeds sowing is lower than the average of the last five years (normal of corresponding week).
Total sowing in the on-going rabi period is now just 10 lakh hectare short of the normal rabi sowing (average of last five years) of 638.37 lakh hectare, as per figures released by the Agriculture Ministry on Friday.
Wheat acreage at 313.14 lakh hectares is higher than the normal of corresponding week of 300.44 lakh hectare.
Madhya Pradesh has posted a marked increase in acreage followed by Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Less area coverage has been reported States including Gujarat and Karnataka.
Sowing of rice at 19.36 lakh hectare is lower compared with normal of corresponding week of 22.92 lakh hectare. Higher area coverage has been reported only from three States including Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Assam while all others have experienced a decline. Pulses sowing at 157.68 lakh hectare is higher than the normal of corresponding week of 144.39 lakh hectare. States that have sowed more pulses include Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.
Less area coverage has been reported from States including Karnataka, Haryana, Assam and Gujarat.
Coarse cereal sowing has been reported over an area of about 56.25 lakh hectare which is lower than normal of corresponding week of 58.16 lakh hectare. Higher area coverage has been reported from States such as Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar and West Bengal, while acreage has declined in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
In the case of oilseeds, total coverage over 81.91 lakh hectares is slightly lower-than-normal of corresponding week of 82.92 lakh hectare.
Higher area coverage has been reported from States including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Uttar Pradesh. Less area has been reported from the States of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab.