Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman who gets ready to present her second Union Budget has some good news from the farm front. At 662 lakh hectares (lh), the rabi sowing in the current season is among the highest. According to the data released by the Agriculture Ministry, this nearly 10 per cent more than 605 lh in the corresponding week in the previous season.
Planting of all crops, barring oilseeds, is higher than that in same period last year. Wheat has been planted over 336 lh (12 per cent more than same week last year), pulses over 161 lh (6 per cent), coarse cereals over 56 lh (17 per cent) and rice is sown over 29 lh , which is 14 per cent more than last year. The acreage under oilseeds is 80.29 lh, which is a slightly lower than 80.36 lh in the same period last year.
Crops | Area Sown | (in lakh hectares) | ||
| 2018-19 | 2019-20 | difference (between 2018) | ||
| Wheat | 336.18 | 299.30 | 12.32% | |
| Rice | 28.80 | 25.31 | 13.80% | |
| Pulses | 161.17 | 151.78 | 6.19% | |
| Gram | 107.21 | 96.19 | 11.45% | |
| Lentil | 16.07 | 16.91 | -4.98% | |
| Fieldpea | 9.64 | 10.46 | -7.77% | |
| Kulthi | 5.15 | 5.43 | -5.07% | |
| Urdbean | 7.63 | 7.53 | 1.35% | |
| Moongbean | 6.19 | 6.10 | 1.54% | |
| Coarse cereals | 55.69 | 47.77 | 16.58% | |
| Jowar | 30.22 | 25.03 | 20.75% | |
| Maize | 16.98 | 14.78 | 14.86% | |
| Barley | 7.82 | 7.20 | 8.57% | |
| Oilseeds | 80.29 | 80.36 | -0.08% | |
| Rapeseed & Mustard | 69.51 | 69.76 | -0.35% | |
| Groundnut | 4.76 | 4.59 | 3.65% | |
| Linseed | 3.46 | 3.44 | 0.48% | |
| Total Crops | 662.13 | 604.52 | 9.53% |