Wheat acreage shrinks by 18% to 4.96 mn hectares so far

The area sown under wheat shrunk by 18% to 4.96 million hectares so far in this rabi season compared to the previous season, latest data from agriculture ministry said.

Wheat was sown in 6.03 million hectares till November 16 in the previous rabi season.

"Less area under wheat has been reported from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Maharashtra," an official statement said today.

Sowing in rabi (winter) season starts from October, while the harvesting of crops is undertaken during March-April.

The area under coarse cereals like ragi, jowar, bajra, etc has been marginally higher at 3.54 million hectares so far this season compared to 3.53 million hectares during the same period in the last rabi season.

Pulses acreage declined by 17% to 6.35 million hectares compared to 7.61 million hectares in the period under review.

The area under oilseeds was down by 8% to 4.69 million hectares so far this season against 5.08 million hectares in the year-ago period.

The total area under all major rabi crops was lagging by 12% at 19.59 million hectares so far from 22.31million hectare in the year-ago period.

The Agriculture Ministry expects production of 120.5 million tonnes of foodgrains during the rabi (winter) season.