Sowing of rabi crops so far has almost touched the normal sowing level for the entire season, which is calculated on the basis of the average of the previous five seasons, according to the latest data compiled by the Agriculture Ministry.

The overall sowing figure for the current rabi season is set to surpass the normal rabi acreage (average area sown in the last five rabi seasons) next week due to higher sowing of wheat and pulses, although the sowing of rice, coarse cereals and oilseeds is lower than normal.

“The total area estimated to have been sown so far (till January 27 2017) under all five rabi crops is 637.34 lakh hectares compared to the normal rabi area of 638.37 lakh hectares,” per an official release.

Sowing of rabi crops begins in November and continues till February.

Wheat has been sown on 315.55 lakh hectares (lh) so far compared to the normal level of 301.49 lhfor the corresponding week (average of the area sown in the comparable period over the previous five years).

Higher area coverage has been reported from Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

Higher sowing has also been reported for pulses, with total acreage till date at 159.28 lh (146.74 lh).

States such as Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand , Odisha and Uttar Pradesh have reported higher pulses coverage.

The area under rice fell to about 21.77 lh (21.15 lh). Telangana, Assam, Chhattisgarh and Tripura have reported higher coverage, while Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have reported a dip in area.

Sowing of coarse cereals declined marginally to 56.90 lh (58.71 lh).

Higher coverage was reported from Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat and West Bengal.

There was also a small decline in the sowing of oilseeds, which fell to 83.84 lh (84.07 lh).

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