The Hindu Business Line : Drop in coverage of major crops as rabi sowing ends

Stumbling blocks
Protracted dry weather in the entire central and north-west region.
Shortages in di-ammonium phosphate, a critical fertiliser required at sowing time.
Farmers in UP, a major producer of wheat, not able to vacate their cane area for planting wheat.

Our Bureau

New Delhi, Jan. 28 Wheat sowing for the current rabi season is virtually complete, with a total area of 274.92 lakh hectares (lh) coming under the crop so

far. This is lower than the 280.63 lh covered during the corresponding period of 2006-07.

Late sowing

The present deficit of about 5.7 lh is much below the gap of nearly 35 lh that prevailed till end-November.

Much of the lag has officially been covered since then, though it also means that a larger area this time has come under late sown varieties.

There have been three major factors that have impeded sowing operations this season.

The first is protracted dry weather, with the entire central and north-west Indian region receiving hardly any rainfall since August.

This has been combined with field-level reports of shortages in di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), a critical fertiliser required at sowing time for a good plant stand and development of roots.

Stretching beyond Jan

The third is specific to the No. 1 wheat producer Uttar Pradesh.

With sugar mills there not in a position to pay growers, and delaying crushing operations by a month or so, farmers were not able to vacate their cane area for planting wheat.

As a result, in many parts — particularly in the fertile, canal-irrigated western districts — wheat sowing has stretched beyond mid-January, whereas by this time the plant should have ideally crossed the tillering stage.

Dependence

A lot, then, depends on an extended winter and no rise in the temperatures during March.

This would ensure that even the crop planted late can grow to its optimal maturity.

Any abrupt increase in the mercury at the crucial grain-filling phase would induce premature ripening and lower harvested yields.

As of now, the situation on the temperature front seems well under control.

For the negative factors, farmers have been induced to sow wheat this time mainly by the remunerative high minimum support price of Rs 1,000 per quintal announced by the Centre and the overall bullish prospects for the ensuing crop to be harvested from end-March.

Cumulative coverage

So far, cumulative acreages over last year have been lower for UP (89.08 lh against 91.85 lh), Madhya Pradesh (36.85 against 41.29), Rajasthan (21.95 against 22.58), Bihar (23.15 against 23.93), Himachal Pradesh (3.42 against 3.61), and Jammu & Kashmir (2.45 against 2.47).

There has, however, been a step up in sowing in Punjab (from 34.67 lh to 34.80 lh), Haryana (23.76 to 24.30), Gujarat (12 to 13.93), Maharashtra (11.76 to 11.95), West Bengal (3.50 to 4.0), Uttarakhand (3.78 to 3.80), Karnataka (2.40 to 2.45) and Chhattisgarh (1.49 to 1.54).

The extra in Punjab and Haryana is significant because wheat yields average about 4.2 tonnes per hectare in these two States.

The Centre’s hope is this would make up for the reduced area in Madhya Pradesh and UP, where average per hectare productivity stood at 1.8 and 2.7 tonnes respectively last year.

Oilseeds

But the prospects are certainly less rosy with regard to rabi oilseeds, specially rapeseed-mustard.

Progressive area reported under this premier rabi oilseed is lower this time, at 58.96 lh, compared with last season’s corresponding 66.63 lh.

Acreage has fallen in Rajasthan (24.03 versus 28.97), Haryana (5.50 versus 6.35), Madhya Pradesh (5.41 versus 6.97), Gujarat (3.41 versus 3.60), Assam (2.62 versus 2.81) and Bihar (1.37 versus 1.65), while rising in UP (7.90 versus 7.70), West Bengal (4.50 versus 4.35) and Chhattisgarh (1.48 versus 1.42).

The total area sown so far under all rabi oilseeds is lower this year at 86.69 lh, over the corresponding cumulative figure of 96.10 lh for 2006-07.

Besides rapeseed-mustard, declines have taken place in sunflower (from 11.51 to 9.81), groundnut (7.29 to 7.28), safflower (3.41 to 3.12) and linseed (5.11 to 4.81), while marginally rising for sesamum (from 1.02 to 1.13).

Pulses

In gram (chana), too, there has been a fall in coverage from 83.08 lh to 79.31 lh.

The overall progressive rabi pulses area has dipped from 137.65 lh to 130.70 lh, with these being from 15.36 to 13.91 for lentil (masur), 8.03 to 6.73 for peas (matar), 6.20 to 5.64 for kulthi (horsegram) and 5.58 to 5.53 for moong.

However, extra area has come under urad (7.40 to 7.85) and lathyrus (4.42 to 5.15).

Jowar down

On the coarse cereals front, the area under jowar so far this year, at 46.57 lh, is lower than the 49.35 lh of the corresponding period of 2006-07, while it has increased for maize (10.09 to 10.31) and barley (from 7.43 to 7.56).

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