The Hindu Business Line : Wheat acreage deficit narrows down to 6 lakh hectares

New Delhi, Jan. 21Wheat planting acreage deficit for the current rabi over the previous season has narrowed down to below six lakh hectares (lh). According to the Agriculture Ministry’s latest Crop Weather Watch report, farmers have till now sown 274.40 lh, as against 280.26 lh during the corresponding period of 2006-07.

The current deficit of about 5.9 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.

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.

Impeding factors

There have been two major factors that have impeded sowing operations in the current season. The first is protracted dry weather, with the entire central and north-west Indian region receiving hardly any rainfall since August. The second is specific to the country’s 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 of the State — particularly in the fertile, canal-irrigated western districts — wheat sowing is still continuing, when by now the plant should ideally have crossed the tillering stage.

To add to these, there have also been 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.

If despite these negatives, farmers have gone in for sowing (and are still doing so), the only reason is the 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.

Acreage

So far, cumulative acreages over last year have been lower for Uttar Pradesh (88.96 lh against 91.85 lh), Madhya Pradesh (36.73 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 (2.31 against 2.47).

On the brighter side, though, Punjab has reported higher sowing (from 34.67 lh to 34.80 lh) and so have Haryana (23.76 to 24.30), Gujarat (12 to 13.93), Maharashtra (11.39 to 11.82), West Bengal (3.50 to 4.0), Uttarakhand (3.78 to 3.80) and Karnataka (2.40 to 2.45).

The extra coverage in Punjab and Haryana is significant because average wheat yields are about 4.2 tonnes per hectare in these two States. The Centre’s hope is this would, in turn, make up for the reduced area in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, where average per hectare productivity stood at 1.8 and 2.7 tonnes respectively last year.

Rabi oilseeds

But the prospects are less rosy when it comes to rabi oilseeds, particularly rapeseed-mustard. Progressive area reported under this most important rabi oilseed crop is lower this time, at 58.84 lh, compared with last season’s corresponding 66.53 lh.

Acreage has fallen in Rajasthan (24.03 against 28.97), Haryana (5.50 against 6.35), Madhya Pradesh (5.40 against 6.95), Gujarat (3.41 against 3.60) and Assam (2.62 against 2.81), while rising in Uttar Pradesh (7.90 against 7.70) and West Bengal (4.50 against 4.35).

The total area sown so far under all rabi oilseeds is lower this year at 85.51 lh, over the corresponding cumulative figure of 94.95 lh for 2006-07. Besides rapeseed-mustard, acreages have declined for sunflower (from 11.12 to 9.63), safflower (3.41 to 3.12), groundnut (6.68 to 6.53) and linseed (5.09 to 4.75), while marginally rising for sesamum (from 1.01 to 1.06).

Gram coverage

In gram (chana), too, there has been a fall in coverage from 82.46 lh to 79.07 lh. The overall progressive rabi pulses area has dipped from 136.58 lh to 129.80 lh, with these being from 15.09 to 13.88 for lentil (masur), 7.88 to 6.73 for peas (matar), 7.40 to 7.35 for urad, 6.20 to 5.61 for kulthi (horsegram) and 5.57 to 5.49 for moong. However, extra area has come under lathyrus (4.42 lh to 5.15).

On the coarse cereals front, the area under jowar so far this year, at 46.46 lh, is lower than the 47.34 lh of the corresponding period of 2006-07, while it has increased for maize (8.14 to 8.96) and barley (from 6.49 to 7.25).