Rabi sowing nears end; hopes of bumper harvest

Among all crops, acreage of wheat, gram and mustard seed till December 6 is almost 16.7%, 11.13% and 5.65%

As the sowing of rabi crops enters its last leg, almost 75 per cent of the normal area (an average acreage in the past five years) has already been planted. Production of wheat, oilseeds and pulses is expected to be good this year, provided there is no unusual change in weather in the coming weeks. Data sourced from the agriculture department shows sowing had been completed on almost 45 million hectares till December 6 of the 60.32 million hectares on which the rabi crop is usually planted.

Among all crops, acreage of wheat, gram and mustard seed till December 6 was almost 16.7 per cent, 11.13 per cent and 5.65 per cent, respectively, more than during the corresponding period last year.

The only crop showing a slowdown in sowing is jowar, which has been planted on 3.31 million hectares till Friday, compared with 3.65 million hectares during the same period last year.

Little impact
However, it is not expected to make much of a difference, as the kharif coarse cereal production in 2013-14 is estimated to be 31 million tonnes, according to the first advance estimate for 2013-14, almost 18 per cent more than pegged by the first advance estimate of last year.

A good southwest monsoon and rains thereafter, along with brimming reservoirs, have pushed up acreage of most crops. This alone could help control food inflation, at least of cereal and pulses. Data from the India Meteorological Department showed that India received 29 per cent more than normal between October 1 and December 4, while rains were six per cent more than normal rainfall during the southwest monsoon season (June-September).

Sugarcane agitation
Such was the intensity of sowing that farmers didn’t stop sowing wheat in Uttar Pradesh despite the agitation over sugarcane. The sown area was at a five-year high till last week in the state, which is the epicenter of the crisis. “All this has raised hopes of bumper rabi harvest,” said a senior official. According to government estimates, India’s kharif foodgrain production will be 129.32 million tonnes in 2013-14, which is just 0.87 per cent more than the fourth estimate of 2012-13, but 10.3 per cent more than the first estimate.