Wheat acreage increases to record 31.36 mln ha so far

Area under wheat cultivation has risen by over 6 per cent to an all-time high of 31.36 million hectares so far in the ongoing rabi season, boosting prospects of a record output this year, Agriculture Ministry said today.
Wheat acreage stood at 29.5 million hectares in the same period last season. Wheat, a major rabi crop, is sown from October, while harvesting begins from April.
According to the latest data released by the Agriculture Ministry, area under cultivation of rice, pulses and oilseeds as on today is higher than that in the year-ago period.
Pulses area has increased to 15.61 million hectares as on today from 14.92 million hectare in the year-ago period, while area under oilseeds has risen to 8.67 million hectare from 8.41 million hectares.

Similarly, area sown to rice has increased to 10.51 lakh hectare from 7.67 lakh hectares in the review period.
However, area under the cultivation of coarse cereals remained marginally lower at 5.85 million hectare as on today, from 6 million hectare in the year-ago.

Total area under all rabi crops has increased to 62.56 million hectare so far this rabi season, as against 59.62 million hectares in the year-ago.
Looking at the encouraging sowing figures, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar had recently said the country's total wheat output is expected to cross 100 million tonnes, setting a fresh record for this year.

Pawar had also said that overall foodgrains production in 2013-14 crop year (July-June) is likely to break the previous record of 259.29 million tonnes achieved in 2011-12.