Due to late harvesting of paddy in a few states such as Punjab and Haryana, sowing of key rabi crops – wheat, pulses and oilseeds has been delayed, officials said.
According to the agriculture ministry on Friday, wheat is sown in 8.6 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. “The prospect of rabi crops seems to be good as per feedback received from the states,” the official said.
These are, however, still early days to make an assessment of the rabi crop output as sowing would continue through December.
Total area under all winter sown crops was 24.85 mh, a decline of 3.44% 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 6.5 mh and 7.1 mh so far a decline of 6% and 2% respectively compared to the same period previous year.
Mustard sowing is marginally down on year at 6.85 MH so far while total area area the key oilseeds is 8.4 mh. The sowing of oilseeds would continue till the end of this month, an official said.
In 0.76 mh, rice has been sown in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala which is marginally lower than last year.
Meanwhile, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) has offloaded 3.6 MT of wheat in the open market from its buffer stock through weekly e-auction this year so far to boost domestic supply and control retail prices of wheat and atta (wheat flour).
The target is to sell 10 MT of wheat by the end of current fiscal to curb any possibility of rise in prices.
At the beginning of the month, the FCI had 22.2 MT of wheat stocks against the buffer of 13.8 MT for January 1.
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.
Rate of increase in wheat prices declined to 7.61% last month on year from 9.3% in August on year.
In April 2019, India raised the duty to 40% from 30% as domestic prices had dropped, to discourage cheaper wheat imports.
Last month, the government reduced stock holding limits for wheat for traders, wholesalers and retailers to 2000 tonne from 3000 tonne, imposed three months back.
