Sowing of rabi or winter crops such as wheat, pulses, oilseeds and coarse cereals continues to gather pace across the country on robust soil moisture due to surplus monsoon rainfall and higher prices. The total area covered under rabi crops has increased 4.12% to 42.88 million hectare (Mha), as 68% of the sowing is complete, according to data from the agriculture ministry released on Monday.
Wheat, the main rabi crop, has been sown in 20.03 million hectare (Mha), an increase of 6.5% over last year. Sowing of wheat with late sown varieties will continue till the first week of January, according to the ministry data.
The area covered under pulses — gram, masoor and urad — is up 3.6% at 10.89 Mha and is likely to surpass the normal sown area of 14.04 Mha due to high remunerative prices received by the farmers last year.
However, the area under oilseeds so far has declined by 4.7% to 8.04 Mha on year. In case of mustard, the key oilseed crop, sowing is down by 5.25% to 7.58 Mha as of November end compared with the normal sown area of 8.69 Mha.
The above-normal monsoon has helped fill up major water reservoirs and recharged groundwater tables, improving soil moisture, and the possibility of longer winter months due to the developing La Nina conditions would help overall crop prospects, an official said.
La Nina conditions may neutralise the impact of late sowing in some cases on crop yields, the official added.
In October, agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had set a target of a record foodgrain production of 341.55 million tonne (MT) in the 2024-25 crop year (July-June), an increase of around 3% from the 2023-24 crop year.
While the rabi season is projected to contribute 164.55 MT to the total foodgrain production in the 2024-25 crop year, kharif and summer seasons are estimated to contribute 161.37 MT and 2.25 MT, respectively.
“We plan to achieve record foodgrain production through the introduction of high-yielding varieties, intercropping, crop diversification, increased area and better agricultural practices,” Chouhan had stated after the conclusion of the National Conference on Agriculture for Rabi Campaign 2024 in October.
The wheat production is projected at a record 115 MT in 2024-25. Chana, which has a 50% share in the country’s pulses production, is estimated at an all-time high of 13.65 MT for the current crop year, against a sharp fall of 10% to 11.03 MT in 2023-24 due to the adverse weather conditions.
