The Hindu Business Line : Wheat sowing picks up; oilseed, pulses area higher

Even as sowing operations for the current rabi season have just begun, farmers are already making their intentions clear by planting 26.90 lakh hectares (lh) so far under wheat.

This is much more than the 21.92 lh covered during the corresponding period of the 2007-08 season. The cumulative area sown till now is higher in Haryana (7.20 lh vs last year’s corresponding 6.50 lh), Uttar Pradesh (5.73 vs 3.32) and Maharashtra (1.96 vs 1.75), while being marginally lower in Madhya Pradesh (8.21 vs 8.41).

In Punjab, too, the area reported so far is only 0.65 lh, against last year’s 0.25 lh. Planting is likely to pick up substantially in the coming days, spurred by expectations of a higher minimum support price and also good residual soil moisture on account of late monsoon rains.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has also forecast a fall in night temperatures over north-west and adjoining central India, which is further suitable for planting of wheat.

The Agriculture Ministry has also reported a sizeable increase in coverage under jowar (41.97 lh against 35.96 lh), rabi maize (2.32 against 1.77) and barley (1.23 against 0.30).

Rabi oilseeds area

Rabi oilseeds area, too, is up, at 60.59 lh against last year’s 43.49 lh, with coverage being higher for rapeseed-mustard (46.84 versus 31.44), sunflower (7.04 versus 5.75) and linseed (2.12 versus 1.91), while dropping a bit in the case of safflower (2.20 versus 2.35).

Cumulative area under pulses so far this year, at 66.019 lh, is higher than the 55.630 lh covered over the same period of last rabi. Planting has increased in gram (46.567 against 40.653), lentil (6.928 against 5.536) and peas (5.286 against 3.387).

More Stories on : Cultivation | Wheat | Oilseeds & Edible Oil | Pulses

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