The coverage of mustard in the ongoing rabi sowing season, which began on October 1, has been reported at 2.04 lakh hectares (lh) until Friday, up from 0.67 lh a year ago, the Agriculture Ministry said releasing the weekly crop data. The area under chana (gram), too, is up at 0.38 lh against 0.01 lh a year ago.

The entire mustard has been reported from Rajasthan, where the monsoon has already retreated and farmers have taken up the oilseed after harvesting moong, which was sown early in the kharif season, officials said. Since prices were good last season and ruled above the minimum support price, farmers are expecting a similar trend in 2023. The harvest of rabi crops will start from March and pick up from April.

MSP announcement

The government is yet to announce the minimum support price (MSP) of rabi crops for the 2022-23 season and the cabinet is likely to consider next week the increase in these support prices as recommended by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).

The average mustard price was ₹6,388/quintal during March-June 2022, the main harvesting period, which was 26.5 per cent above its MSP of ₹5,050 per quintal.

As quality seed has the potential to enhance the productivity of crops by about 20-25 per cent, the Centre’s focus has been to provide seed mini-kits of pulses and oilseeds targeting monsoon deficit regions during rabi 2022-23, the Agriculture Ministry said last month.

To cover non-traditional areas under mustard, particularly in the Vidharbha region of Maharashtra, the Centre has been coordinating with the State government to ensure this happens. The Centre had implemented the Special Mustard Mission of Rabi 2021-22, which resulted in an increase in area by 20 per cent and production by 15 per cent. This year, an allocation of 26,53,183 mustard seed minikits with a value of ₹50.41 crore has been approved for distribution in 301 districts of 18 states as a Special Programme.

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