A sudden spurt in wheat planting in the state of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan has pushed up the overall Rabi sowing in the country this week. As per reports, the total sown area has reached to 338.20 lakh hectares (lh), marginally lower than the 339.75 lh planted in the corresponding week last year.
As per reports, farmers in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have planted wheat in substantially larger areas than what was covered in the same week last year. While wheat has been planted on 37.25 lh in Madhya Pradesh so far, against 28.75 lh in the same period last year, in Rajashtan, it has gone up to 18.28 lh, compared to 15.96 lh last year, showed rabi sowing data released by the Agriculture Ministry on Friday.
Pulse Cultivation
However, there has been a 10 per cent reduction in pulses sowing with both Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra reporting lesser coverage compared to the previous rabi season. The pulses acreage has shrunk mainly because of a drop in area under gram cultivation, which dropped by 10 per cent to 61.5 lh till this week.
Mustard Cultivation
A little over 5 per cent reduction in mustard cultivation has affected the overall oil seeds area. At 60.31 lh, the total oil seeds acreage is 5 per cent lower than the same week last year. Coarse cereals, on the other hand, reported a 5 per cent increase in area mainly because of a 10 per cent increase in jowar sowing, reported mainly from Rajasthan.
Winter Rice Cultivation
Winter rice sowing, too, has picked up, with a significant increase in sowing in Tamil Nadu. Rice sowing currently stands at 8.17 lh, which is nearly 11 per cent higher than the 7.37 lh reported in the corresponding week last year.
