Wheat acreage up 3.59 pc till Dec 30; crop prospects bright

New Delhi, Dec 30 (PTI) As the sowing of rabi crops almost comes to a close, the total area under wheat has gone up by 3.59 per cent to 325.10 lakh hectare (ha) from over the year-ago period, according to the agriculture ministry data released on Friday.

Sowing of wheat, the main rabi (winter) crop, had begun from October onwards. Maize, jowar, gram and mustard are other major rabi crops. Harvesting of these crops will begin in March/April next year.

According to the latest data, farmers have sown wheat in more area in 325.10 lakh ha till December 30 of the current rabi season of the 2022-23 crop year (July-June) against 313.81 lakh ha during the same period last year.

The higher area was reported in Uttar Pradesh (3.59 lakh ha), Rajasthan (2.52 lakh ha), Maharashtra (1.89 lakh ha), Gujarat (1.10 lakh ha), Bihar (0.87 lakh ha), Madhya Pradesh (0.85 lakh ha), Chhattisgarh (0.66 lakh ha), West Bengal (0.21 lakh ha), Jammu & Kashmir (0.08 lakh ha), Assam (0.02 lakh ha) and Jharkhand (0.03 lakh ha), it added.

A senior agriculture ministry official said the sowing of rabi crops is almost complete by now. Less than one per cent area under wheat might come from Uttar Pradesh, where sowing in some parts will be undertaken in January after cane harvesting.

Farmers have sown more area under wheat in anticipation of getting more than the support price in 2023 too as well, the official said.

The wheat crop prospect is seen to be bright right now and the ministry hopes for a record production if weather conditions remain good during the flowering to grain fill stage.

As per the data, the area sown to rice has also increased to 16.53 lakh ha till December 30 of the current rabi season compared to 13.70 lakh ha in the year-ago period.

Similarly, pulses acreage has risen to 153.09 lakh ha against 150.10 lakh ha during the comparable period. Out of total pulses, gram has been sown in 105.61 lakh ha so far this rabi season. Coarse and Nutri-cereals acreage has increased marginally to 46.67 lakh ha from 44.85 lakh ha in the said period, the data showed.

In the case of oilseeds, the total area sown to various types of oilseeds has increased to 103.60 lakh ha till December 30 of this rabi season against 94.96 lakh ha in the year-ago period.

Of which, rapeseed-mustard seed area has increased to 94.22 lakh ha compared to 86.56 lakh ha, the data showed. As a result, there has been a 4.46 per cent increase in total area sown to all kinds of rabi crops at 645 lakh ha till December 30 of the current rabi season from 617.43 lakh ha in the year-ago period.