Wheat sowing down by 3.7 pc to nearly 242 lakh hectares so far

Sowing area of wheat declined by 3.7 per cent to 241.91 lakh hectares so far in the ongoing Rabi season, according to government data.
The area under coverage for pulses and oilseeds are also down so far this Rabi season compared to the year-ago period.
"Wheat's sowing area is at 241.91 lakh hectares as compared to last year's 251.32 lakh hectares," an official statement said today. Wheat is a major rabi crop.
Area under coverage for pulses is at 111.13 lakh hectares against 124.78 lakh hectares in the corresponding period of last Rabi season.
Similarly, sowing area under total oilseeds is at 69.91 lakh hectares as compared to 75.33 lakh hectares last year.

Coarse cereals sowing stood at 46.22 lakh hectares as compared to last year's 50.62 lakh hectares.

"As per Rabi Crops data released by Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture, total area coverage as on today under Rabi crops moves to 470.74 lakh hectares while last year's sowing area was at 503.66 lakh hectare," the statement said.
Sowing of rabi crops starts from October, while harvesting begins from March.
Production of foodgrains (comprising rice, wheat, pulses and coarse cereals) in 2013-14 crop year (July-June) stood at 264.77 million tonnes.