Wheat sowing up 25% so far this rabi season at 255.76 lakh hectares

New Delhi: Wheat acreage has increased by 25 per cent so far in the ongoing rabi season at 255.76 lakh hectares mainly on higher sowing areas in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, the government data showed.

The area under coverage for wheat, which is the major crop in the rabi (winter-sown) season, stood at 203.91 lakh hectares in the same period last year.

The sowing of rabi crops starts in October.

The higher area has been reported from Uttar Pradesh (20.09 lakh hectares), Madhya Pradesh (13.48 lakh hectares), Rajasthan (5.32 lakh hectares), Gujarat (2.61 lakh hectares), Maharashtra (2.43 lakh hectares), Bihar (2.24 lakh hectares), Punjab (1.32 lakh hectares) and Haryana (1.28 lakh hectares).

An increase in wheat sowing area augurs well for the country as the domestic production had fallen to 106.84 million tonnes in the 2021-22 crop year (July-June) from 106.84 million tonnes in the previous year.

In May this year, the government banned exports of wheat to boost domestic supplies and control prices. Wheat procurement by state-owned FCI fell to 187.92 lakh tonnes in the 2022-23 marketing year from 434.44 lakh tonnes due to a fall in domestic output and aggressive purchases by private parties.

According to data as on December 9, paddy acreage has increased to 11.86 lakh hectares so far from 10.42 lakh hectares.

Pulses have been sown in 127.07 lakh hectares so far as against 123.77 lakh hectares, with the area under gram rising to 89.42 lakh hectares from 87.28 lakh hectares.

The area under coverage for coarse cereals has risen to 36.39 lakh hectares from 32.05 lakh hectares.

In the non-foodgrain category, the area under coverage for oilseeds has increased to 95.19 lakh hectares from 87.65 lakh hectares. Mustard, the main oilseeds crop in the rabi season, rose to 87.95 lakh hectares from 80.78 lakh hectares.

India imports about 60 per cent of its edible oils requirement. Therefore, the increase in the mustard seeds acreage will boost the domestic output of mustard oil.

The total sowing area under rabi crops has increased to 526.27 lakh hectares so far from 457.80 lakh hectares in the corresponding period of the last year.