The Hindu Business Line : Wheat, rabi pulses, oilseed coverage up

AFTER a good kharif harvest, the country appears headed for a satisfactory rabi crop too. Barring jowar, the area under almost all rabi crops has shown an increase.

According to an Agriculture Ministry statement, besides a normal monsoon last year, active western disturbances during December and January have brought moderate to light precipitation or rains in North and East India.

"This is considered to be beneficial to rabi crops," the statement said.

Wheat sowing has almost been completed and the area covered has equalled the normal sowing of 266 lakh hectares (lh).

When compared to last year, this is 23 lh more, with gains from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

Area under wheat in Madhya Pradesh has touched a record 46 lh against a normal 38 lh.

This is a tad higher than expectations of the agricultural officials in that State.

They had expected to cover 45 lh this year under wheat.

The foodgrains trade based on wheat sowing has estimated its production to be 75-78 million tonnes this year.

"Reports of accelerated sowing of oilseeds, particularly rapeseed and mustard, and pulses have been received," the statement said.

As regards rice sowing, over 20 lh have been covered against 17.10 lh last year.

In case of jowar, the coverage has been two per cent lower than the normal 53 lh.

On the other hand, maize (corn) has been sown in 6.95 lh against five lh last year.

A marginal rise in sowing of barley has also been reported.

A steep rise in the area under pulses has been reported during the current rabi.

So far, 137 lh have been covered, up 30 lh over last year.

The rise mainly comes from the coverage of gram.

Sowing of this pulses has been reported in 79 lh (58 lh) with Madhya Pradesh again reporting good sowing.

There has been 22 lh rise in sowing of oilseeds.

Rapeseed/mustard has been sown in 59 lh (50 lh) with the area under the crop rising especially in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

The area under sunflower, mainly grown in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, has also gone up considerably.

The statement said there were no reports of shortage of chemical pesticides and incidences of pests and diseases were under control.