Wheat sowing still tad down; mustard acreage more than last year
Sowing of wheat during the week ended December 1 continued to remain slightly down as compared to the same period last
year due to a drop in acreage in Rajasthan and Bihar.
While the acreage drop in Bihar could be due to delayed harvest of paddy, the fall in area in Rajasthan as compared to last year might be due to reporting delays because of polls.
The good news is in all other major wheat-growing states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh, sowing has picked up pace after the initial lull as fields are getting cleared.
Traders and market players hope that sowing will reach the normal 30-30.5 million hectares by the time the season ends as wheat prices in the market are ruling high.
So far, the data shows that wheat has been sown in around 18.79 million hectares, which is just around 5 per cent less than the area covered during the same period of last year. Among other crops, sowing is gram (chana) is around 12 per cent down during the week ended December 1, 2023 due to less acreage in all the major growing states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan.
The three states account for nearly 66 per cent of the over 10 million hectares of land in which gram is sown in India.
Sowing of mustard is almost over across India. More than the acreage levels, it is the crop health that could be of concern in the months to come as the Met department predicted warmer than normal winters in most parts of the country in the December to February period. Good winters and early frost and mist gives moisture to the standing crops, especially wheat.
