According to the Agricultural Ministry latest review of rabi season crop sowing trends, farmers in Punjab have till now planted 33.91 lakh hectares (lh) under wheat, compared with 34.59 lh during the corresponding period of 2008-09.
Similar declines have also been reported from Haryana (24.05 lh versus 24.55 lh) and Rajasthan (16.92 lh versus 17.39 lh). Average yields for a hectare in the three States during 2008-09 – at 4.45 tonnes for Punjab, 4.27 tonnes for Haryana and 3.05 tonnes for Rajasthan – stood higher than the all-India figure of 2.89 tonnes.
Maharashtra (7.43 lh versus 7.70 lh) and Gujarat (7.23 lh versus 8.78 lh), too, have seen a fall in progressive area planted. But the lower coverage in these States have been more than offset by increased sowing in Uttar Pradesh (77.89 lh versus 74.62 lh), Madhya Pradesh (38.36 lh versus 35.04 lh) and Bihar (13.59 lh versus 12.32 lh).
As a result, the overall area sown under wheat, at 231.32 lh, is more than the 226.01 lh achieved during this period of last rabi. But whether this would lead to higher production – the country harvested a record 80.583 million tonnes (mt) last year – is a moot point. The reason for this is that the States with higher coverage this time have lower yields, ranging from 1.72 tonnes in Madhya Pradesh and 2.05 tonnes in Bihar to 3 tonnes in Uttar Pradesh (average for 2008-09). For the current year, the Agriculture Ministry has targeted wheat output at 79 mt.
Madhya Pradesh farmers have brought in extra area not only in wheat, but even under rabi pulses such as gram (31.88 lh versus 27.61 lh), lentil (6.39 lh versus 5.32 lh) and peas (2.59 lh versus 2.47 lh), and oilseeds like rapeseed-mustard (8.87 lh versus 7.82 lh) and linseed (1.74 lh versus 1.45 lh). .
Uttar Pradesh has also reported expanded acreages under rapeseed-mustard (12.94 lh versus 8.53 lh), gram (8.63 lh versus 8.49 lh), lentil (6.42 lh versus 5.97 lh) and barley (2.53 lh versus 1.96 lh), while recording a decline in peas (3.47 lh versus 4.44 lh). Both these States have had a good spell of post-monsoon showers that have significantly bolstered the soil-moisture regime for rabi planting.
In most other States, the overall coverage of rabi crops so far this year is lacklustre relative to last year's levels. This is especially apparent in Rajasthan, the country's main rapeseed-mustard growing State. This time, farmers there have sown only 22.87 lh under the crop, against last year's progressive acreage of 27.62 lh.
Rajasthan has also recorded a decline in area under gram (4.57 lh versus 7.26 lh) and barley (2.49 lh versus 2.94 lh).
Another State that has witnessed lower rabi sowing activity is Karnataka, where area has fallen in sunflower (3.61 lh versus 5.19 lh) and jowar (10.97 lh versus 11.64 lh), while rising for gram (10.85 lh versus 8.34 lh). Maharashtra, too, has registered declines under jowar (28.40 lh versus 32.32 lh), sunflower (1.23 lh versus 1.28 lh) and safflower (1.69 lh versus 1.80 lh), while seeing a rise in gram (9.23 lh versus 8.84 lh).
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