Rabi sowing slows down

Though acreage under the main rabi (winter) crops, such as wheat, gram and mustard continued to rise, overall sowing for the season across the country has turned sluggish as cash-strapped farmers have slowed down planting.

According to preliminary data released by the Agriculture Ministry, acreage under rabi crops till November 18 stood lower, at 241.73 lakh hectares, compared to 243.38 lakh ha in the corresponding period last year.

Rabi acreage till last week was up 16 per cent, but the pace of planting slowed this week on account of currency shortages due to the demonetisation of ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes, which impacted purchase of agri inputs such as seeds and fertilisers.

“The demonetisation has impacted rabi sowing across North India,” said Kalyan Goswami, Executive Director, National Seed Association of India (NSAI). While wheat sowing has been impacted in Punjab, Haryana, west Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, planting of corn has taken a hit in Bihar, mainly in areas around Motihari and Champaran, Goswami added.

NSAI had written to the Prime Minister’s Office, a couple of days ago requesting that farmers across the country be allowed to use the old ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes for agricultural activities in the ongoing rabi season.

“Based on our inputs, the government on Thursday allowed farmers to withdraw ₹25,000 per week,” Goswami added. This is ₹1,000 more per week than for others.

In Eastern India, farmers were busy harvesting rice and as a result, sowing is yet to commence.

Wheat has been planted so far on 79.4 lh compared to 78.8 lh in the corresponding period last year. Mustard has been planted on 50.8 lh (42.5 lh) and gram on 53.7 lh (52.7 lh).

Meanwhile, in Gujarat, rabi sowing is seen picking up on a strong note as the area under wheat and jeerais seen more than doubling than what was reported last year in the same period.

According to the data shared by the Gujarat Agriculture Department, the State has reported rabi sowing on 4,51,500 hectares as on November 14 — about 14 per cent more than the 3,51,500 hectares reported during the same time last year.

The three-year average normal sowing for the rabi season is reported at 33,07,900 hectares. The area under wheat has more than doubled to 25,900 hectares (11,700 hectares), while that of jeera is reported at 36,600 hectares (18,000 hectares).

Farm sources revealed that jeera fetched record prices last year, which attracted more farmers to take up the spice. Also, higher prices of wheat as compared to other rabi crops prompted farmers to opt for the grain.

The sowing area of coriander also increased by 74 per cent to 8,200 hectares compared to 4,700 hectares in the same period last year.

However, the area under fennel seed and onion has reported a decline, from 9,100 hectares last year to about 5,900 hectares.

The drop in fennel seed sowing is attributed to farmers’ shift towards jeera for better prices. Meanwhile, the sowing area of sugarcane fell by nearly 73 per cent to 8,500 hectares (from 31,000 hectares).

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