Wheat sowing up 25 pc so far this rabi season at 255.76 lakh hectares; oilseeds acreage up 9 pc

Delhi mandigrain

New Delhi.Wheat acreage has increased by 25 per cent so far in the ongoing rabi season
at 255.76 lakh hectares mainly on higher sowing area in Uttar Pradesh and

Madhya Pradesh, the government data showed. The area under coverage for
wheat, which is the major crop in rabi (winter-sown) season, stood at 203.91
lakh hectares in the same period last year.
Sowing of rabi crops starts from October.
Higher area has been reported from Uttar Pradesh (20.09 lakh hectares),
Madhya Pradesh (13.48 lakh hectares), Rajasthan (5.32 lakh hectares), Gujarat
(2.61 lakh hectares), Maharashtra (2.43 lakh hectares), Bihar (2.24 lakh
hectares), Punjab (1.32 lakh hectares) and Haryana (1.28 lakh hectares).

Increase in wheat sowing area augurs well for the country as the domestic
production had fallen to 106.84 million tonnes in the 2021-22 crop year (JulyJune) from 106.84 million tonnes in the previous year.
In May this year, the government banned exports of wheat to boost domestic
supplies and control prices. Wheat procurement by state-owned FCI fell to
187.92 lakh tonnes in 2022-23 marketing year from 434.44 lakh tonnes due to
fall in domestic output and aggressive purchase by private parties.
According to data as on December 9, paddy acreage has increased to 11.86 lakh
hectares so far from 10.42 lakh hectares.
Pulses have been sown in 127.07 lakh hectares so far as against 123.77 lakh
hectare, with area under gram rising to 89.42 lakh hectares from 87.28 lakh
hectares.
Area under coverage for coarse cereals has risen to 36.39 lakh hectares from
32.05 lakh hectares.
In non-foodgrain category, area under coverage for oilseeds has increased to
95.19 lakh hectares from 87.65 lakh hectares. Mustard, the main oilseeds crop

in rabi season, rose to 87.95 lakh hectares from 80.78 lakh hectares.
India imports about 60 per cent of its edible oils requirement. Therefore, the
increase in the mustard seeds acreage will boost domestic output of mustard
oil.
Total sowing area under rabi crops has increased to 526.27 lakh hectares so far
from 457.80 lakh hectares in the corresponding period of the last year PTI