Sowing of wheat has been delayed owing to less soil moisture but it will soon pick up in major growing states like Haryana and Punjab, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said today.
At present, there is no cause of concern about sowing of wheat and other rabi crops, he added.
"Area sown to wheat so far is lower than last year. Sowing has delayed in some states due to less moisture content in soil. The sowing will soon pick up in Haryana and Punjab and the gap in the area will be covered," Singh told reporters.
Till last week of the current 2015-16 rabi season, area sown to wheat was down by 36 per cent at 78.83 lakh hectares compared with 107.35 lakh hectares in the year-ago period.
Sowing of wheat, the main rabi crop, started from October and harvesting will be from April.
According to Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Director General S Ayyappan, "Wheat sowing has delayed as some states like Punjab are still harvesting rice. Fields need to be prepared clearing rice straws and cotton stalks."
"So, 10 days delay in wheat sowing will not affect the overall coverage as sowing period is till November-end. The correct picture of the fall in wheat area would be known by first week of December," he said.
The ICAR scientists as well as agriculture ministry officials are closely monitoring the sowing operation, he said, allaying any concerns of area fall under wheat this year.
Briefing media about the meeting with state agriculture
commissioners on six major central schemes, Singh said state governments have made good progress in implementing the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY).
Since the objective of PMKSY is decentralised state and district-level planning and execution of irrigation projects, Singh said: "I think irrigation plan for about 100 districts would be ready by March 2016."
States like Gujarat, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have done well in terms of achieving the physical and financial progress under the scheme, he said.
The funding pattern under the scheme has been modified to 90:10 ratio for north eastern states and 60:40 to other states, the minister said while urging all states to spend funds under the scheme in an accelerated manner and submit their utilisation certificates.
The minister also said central officials would be sent to states like West Bengal and Jharkhand, which have not spent balance funds for last four years, and make sure that they are able to avail the benefits of the scheme.
He also said the states which are not spending funds for allocated projects, would be tranferred to those states that are performing well on fund utilisation.
On soil health card, the minister said the government has issued 28.36 lakh cards so far.
He said 28.36 lakh soil samples have been tested out of over 50 lakh samples collected so far.
