Due to late harvesting of paddy in a few states such as Punjab and Haryana, sowing of key rabi crops – wheat, pulses and oilseeds have been delayed, officials said.
According to the agriculture ministry on Friday, wheat is sown in 18.8 million hectare (mh), which is a decline of 5% on year while total estimated area to be covered in the season is 30.73 MH.
An agriculture ministry official said sowing of rabi crops is ‘slightly delayed’ due to late harvesting of kharif paddy in some states including Punjab where farmers went for re-planting of paddy following floods in July.
These are, however, still early days to make an assessment of the rabi crop output as sowing would continue through December, an official said.
However, because of deficiency, the north-eastern monsoon and fear of El Nino conditions prevailing till the middle of next year could impact rabi crop yield.
Total area under all winter sown crops was 43.47 mh, a decline of 5.33% compared to previous year. The five-year average rabi crop area is 64.8 mh.
Pulses and oilseeds majorly in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra have been sown in 10.8 mh and 8.94 mh so far a decline of 9.44% and 0.43% respectively compared to the same period previous year.
Mustard sowing is marginally up on year at 8.42 MH so far while total area area the key oilseeds is 8.4 mh. The sowing of oilseeds has been largely completed across key growing states, an official said.
In 0.92 mh, rice has been sown in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala which is lower than last year.
The government for the season has set a higher wheat production target of a record 114 million tonne (MT) for the 2023-24 crop year against an estimated output of 110.5 MT in 2022-23.
The government is aiming to bring around 60% of the total wheat area under the climate-resistant varieties for dealing with extreme climatic conditions such as the wheat wave and rainfall witnessed just prior to harvesting of crops in the last two years.
The government has set marginally higher foodgrians production targets of 332 MT for 2023-24 crop year (July-June), out of which rabi season will contribute 161.2 MT. The food grains production in 2022-23 was estimated at 329.6 MT.