Missing acres

We had earlier spoken about how, from the beginning of this rabi season, the ministry of agriculture has started putting in a rider with its weekly sowing data, saying its acreage estimates are 'eye estimates' by states. Even then, some of its figures will likely boggle your mind. Take this. According to official data, the total area under rabi rice at the beginning of the season (November 4) was estimated at 0.95 million hectares. Two weeks after that, it showed that the total acreage had dropped to 0.56 million hectares. Now, even if the estimates were tentative, a fall of over 41 per cent in a week appears strange. The numbers have come in for strong criticism.