Increase may offset likely 10% drop in summer farm production due to drought
Winter sowing inched up marginally this year on a slight pick-up in areas under coarse cereal, oilseeds and pulses, raising hopes of a good harvest for the third straight year. This increase would provide some relief to policymakers, especially after a projected 10% drop in summer farm output due to dry spells until July.
According to the final acreage data released by the farm ministry on Friday, winter planting at 62.90 m hectare in the current crop year through June is 1.5% higher than the average sowing during each of the last five years. Areas under winter crops had touched 62.74 m hectare last year.
The planting of various pulse varieties, barring gram, rose to 15.16 m hectare, compared with 15.01 m hectare a year earlier. Sowing of coarse cereals rose by 5% to 6.34 m hecatre. Similarly, sowing of oilseeds, excluding mustard, went up by 1.3% to 8.83 m hectare. The total area under winter crops has risen to 59.20 m hecatre compared with 59.15 m hecatre in 2011-12. Winter planting usually starts around mid-September and is mostly over by mid-January.
However, the sowing of winter wheat dropped marginally in 2012-13 to 29.83 m hectare.
The country is aiming to produce 249 MT of food grains in the crop year through June 2013, down 3.3% from a year ago, thanks to a projected drop in summer output.
Although prices of vegetables are expected to moderate due to seasonal factors, food inflation is still unlikley to slow significantly, at least until March, due to a low base, higher cost of production and persistent price pressure in protein-based food items such as milk, meat, egg and fish.