Rabi sowing covers 572 lakh ha

Increase in planting of crops, especially wheat, gram and jowar, has helped rabi acreage to go up by 6.6 per cent to 572 lakh hectares (lh) this week over the corresponding week last year. The total planted area under winter crop the same week last year was 536 lh, according to rabi sowing data released by the Agriculture Ministry on Friday.

There was an almost 10 per cent increase in area under wheat till this week to 297 lh over same period in the previous rabi season. Much of this increase was reported from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat, the States that received substantially higher monsoon rainfall. The other traditional wheat-growing States such as Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana, on other hand, reported either the same level as last year or less area under wheat so far.

Among pulses crops, planting of gram has been 5 lh (or 5.64 per cent) more than the corresponding week last year. Impressive increase in sowing of gram in Rajasthan (42 per cent higher than last year) and Maharashtra (46 per cent) took total area under gram to 95 lh till this week. Total area under pulses crop as of now is 140 lh as against 137 lh in the corresponding week last year. This is despite subdued pulses sowing in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, two other major pulses States.

Cereals acreage

There is a spurt in jowar sowing too. Better soil moisture level in jowar-growing areas in both Maharashtra and Karnataka, which account for most of jowar crop in the country, has helped increase the area by 17 per cent to 26 lh till this week. Two other major coarse cereals crops, which registered an improvement in acreage over the same period last year, were maize and barley.

The positive trend pushed up the total coarse cereals area by close to 11 per cent to 46.66 lh. Planting of oilseeds too made a recovery this week. The total area under oilseeds till this week is 74 lh, nearly 1 per cent less than the area till the corresponding week last year.

This is despite a slight drop in mustard/rapeseed area in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. A corresponding increase in mustard sowing in Rajasthan more or less made up for the shortfall in other States.

Rice sowing

Winter rice acreage has increased to 13.9 lh, about 16.5 per cent more than same week last year, because of Tamil Nadu, where rice planting increased by 18 per cent to close to 9 lh.

Water storage in major reservoirs in the country is more than comfortable.

Water levels

According to the Central Water Commission, which monitors water storage levels in 120 major reservoirs in the country, cumulative storage in these water bodies is 91.34 billion cubic metres, nearly 50 per cent more than the storage in the corresponding week last year.

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