Wheat sowing up 15% to 10.14 mn hectares so far; pulses coverage dips: Data

Coarse cereals were sown in 1.924 million hectares as against 1.98 million hectares, while rice in 0.8 million hectares as against 0.72 million hectares in the said period

Area sown to wheat has risen by 15 per cent to 101.49 lakh hectares while pulses acreage has declined in the current rabi (winter) season so far compared to the year-ago period, according to the Agriculture Ministry data released on Friday.

Sowing of wheat, the main rabi crop, begins in October and harvesting starts in March-April. Besides wheat, gram and mustard are other major crops grown during the rabi season of the 2022-23 crop year (July-June).

According to the latest sowing data, wheat has been sown in 101.49 lakh hectares till November 18 of this rabi season as against 88.46 lakh hectares in the year-ago period. The higher area under wheat has been reported from Punjab (7.18 lakh ha), followed by Rajasthan (4.24 lakh ha), Uttar Pradesh (2.59 lakh ha), Maharashtra (1.05 lakh ha), and Gujarat (0.67 lakh ha), data showed.

However, the area sown to pulses remained lower at 73.25 lakh hectares so far this rabi season as against 76.08 lakh hectares in the year-ago period. Among pulses, gram was planted in 52.57 lakh hectares as against 52.83 lakh hectares in the said period.

In the case of oilseeds, about 66.81 lakh hectare was sown to six types of oilseeds, higher than 59.22 lakh hectare in the year-ago period. Much of the area was sown to rapeseed and mustard at 63.25 lakh hectares as against 55.13 lakh hectares in the said period.

Coarse cereals were sown in 19.24 lakh hectares as against 19.80 lakh hectares, while rice in 8.03 lakh hectares as against 7.21 lakh hectares in the said period, the data showed.

Total coverage under all the rabi crops remained higher at 268.80 lakh hectares as on November 18 of this rabi season, higher than 250.76 lakh hectares in the year-ago period.