Wheat sowing up by 7 pc to 31.18 million hectares

Area under wheat cultivation has rose by 7 per cent to an all-time high of 31.18 million hectares so far in the ongoing rabi season, boosting prospects of a record production this year, Agriculture Ministry said today.
In the case of wheat, more area has been reported from Madhya Pradesh (14.22 lakh hectares), Rajasthan (4.88 lakh hectares) and Uttar Pradesh (4.73 lakh hectares), the ministry added.
Wheat was grown on 29.12 million hectares in the same period last year. Sowing of wheat, and other rabi crops, starts in October and harvesting takes place from April.
The country had produced a record 259.29 million tonnes (MT) of wheat in 2011-12. In the following year, output fell marginally to 255.36 MT.

The total area under rabi crops has touched 61.90 million hectares so far, against the 58.70 million hectares in the year-ago period.
Among other rabi crops, pulses acreage has increased to 15.51 million hectares this season from 14.73 million hectares last year, taking advantage of rains.

Area under oilseeds has increased to 8.62 million hectares during the period from 8.27 million hectares last year.
Total area under rice sown in the rabi season has also risen to 0.72 million hectares during the week ending today from 0.55 million hectares in the year-ago period.
However, the area under coarse cereals has decreased to 5.85 million hectares from 6 million hectares a year ago.

The government has set a rabi production target of 92.50 million tonnes (mt) for wheat, 12 mt for pulses, 14 mt for rice, 4.4 mt for maize and 1.5 mt for barley.