Wheat sowing up by 7.62 pc so far

Area sown to wheat crop has increased by 7.62 per cent to 303.16 lakh hectare in the ongoing 2016-17 rabi season so far even as above-normal temperature is a concern.
Area sown to pulses and oilseeds has gone up but the coverage under rice and coarse cereals remained lower in the said period, according to the data released by the Agriculture Ministry.
Sowing of wheat and other rabi crops begins from October-November and harvesting starts from April.
As per the data, farmers have sown wheat, the main rabi crop, in 303.16 lakh hectare as on today this season, as against 281.70 lakh hectare in the year-ago period.

Uttar Pradesh has sown wheat in 97.26 lakh hectare, Punjab in 34.96 lakh hectare and Rajasthan in 30.6 lakh hectare so far this season.
The Met Department has projected warmer winters this year, which is a concern for the temperature-sensitive wheat crop during the crucial period of February-March.

In case of pulses, sowing area has increased by 13.43 per cent to 152.63 lakh hectare so far this season from 134.56 lakh hectare in the year-ago period.
Oilseeds area has also gone up by 7.96 per cent to 80.63 lakh hectare from 74.68 lakh hectare in the year-ago period.
However, rice area has dropped by 27.42 per cent to 12.74 lakh hectare from 17.56 lakh hectare so far due to cyclone impact in southern states, especially Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Even area sown to coarse cereals has declined by 6.63 per cent to 53.60 lakh hectare so far this rabi season from 57.40 lakh hectare in the year-ago period.