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Wheat output this year would be around 98 mt, very similar to what the country produced last year, a top Agricultural Ministry official said on Friday. “We hope this year wheat output will match last year’s 98 mt,” said Agricultural Secretary S. K. Pattanayak, addressing a press conference here. For 2018-19, the government has set a target of 97.5 mt.
There was only a marginal decrease in the total area under wheat crop this year as compared to the actual area planted last year. Hence, the expectation is that output would be very similar to last year’s 98 mt, he said. However, he added, it was too early to make an assessment as the grains were still being formed. “We will have a better idea after March 15,” he said. Currently, the standing crop in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Western Uttar Pradesh look normal. If there are no adverse weather conditions, the output would be good, Pattanayak said.
Agricultural Commissioner of India, S K Malhotra, also present at the meeting, said the final tabulations showed that the total area under wheat last year was 30.59 million hectares. “The area under wheat this year so far is 30.46 million hectares,” he said. However, the latest weekly crop sowing data released by the Ministry last week still maintains 31.74 million hectares as the total area under wheat in 2017-18.
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