Agriculture Minister Manoj Ahuja said on Thursday that the outlook for the harvest is bright. (document)
New Delhi:
So far in the ongoing rabi (winter) season, wheat sown area has increased by 3.18% to 31.226 lakh hectares, with increases in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, according to data released by the Ministry of Agriculture today.
Agriculture Minister Manoj Ahuja said on Thursday that the crop outlook is bright as the current weather conditions are favorable for plant growth and higher yields.
Wheat is the main rabi (winter) crop, sown from October and harvested in April. Mustard seeds and mung beans are other major crops planted during the rabies season in the 2022-23 crop year (July-June).
As of Dec. 23, which coincides with the rabies season, 31.226 million hectares had been planted with wheat, compared with 30.261 million hectares a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
“As a result, the area covered has increased by 965,000 hectares compared to last year,” the ministry said.
Rajasthan (199,000 hectares) reported a higher area, followed by Gujarat (174,000 hectares), Uttar Pradesh (157,000 hectares), Bihar (151,000 hectares), Maharashtra ( 143,000 hectares), Madhya Pradesh (83,000 hectares), Chhattisgarh (064,000 hectares), West Bengal (24,000 hectares), Jammu and Kashmir (2,300 hectares), Karnataka ( 0.15 million hectares) and Assam (0.1 million hectares).
The sown area of paddy rice, which is cultivated on a small scale during the rabies season, has also increased to 1.442 million hectares so far, compared to 1.260 million hectares a year earlier.
In terms of pulses, the total acreage of rabies pulses increased slightly to 14.854 million hectares from 14.464 million hectares in the same period last year.
In pulses, the gram area increased slightly to 10.337 million hectares compared to 10.265 million hectares in the same period, the data showed.
Oilseed sown area so far in this frenetic season stands at 10.147 million hectares, up from 9.328 million hectares a year earlier.
Among oilseeds, mustard seed was planted at 9.267 million hectares compared to 8.535 million hectares in the same period, the data showed.
The total area of all rabid crops so far has also increased to 62.062 million hectares compared to 59.462 million hectares in the same period last year.
(Aside from the title, this story is unedited by NDTV staff and published via a syndicated feed.)
Featured Video of the Day
RBI hikes key lending rate, lowers growth forecast
