India News | As Rabi Sowing Ends, Wheat Acreage Rises Marginally to 343.23 Lakh Hectares: Govt Data
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. As sowing of winter crops ends, total area planted with wheat crop has risen by only 1.39 lakh hectares to 343.23 lakh hectares (ha) in the rabi season of the 2022-23 crop year (July-June) from the year-ago period, according to the agriculture ministry data released on Friday.
New Delhi, Feb 3 (PTI) As sowing of winter crops ends, total area planted with wheat crop has risen by only 1.39 lakh hectares to 343.23 lakh hectares (ha) in the rabi season of the 2022-23 crop year (July-June) from the year-ago period, according to the agriculture ministry data released on Friday.
Sowing of wheat, the main rabi (winter) crop, begins in October and harvesting from March/April. Gram and mustard are other major crops grown during this season.
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Total area sown to all rabi crops has increased 720.68 lakh hectares in the rabi season of the 2022-23 crop year from 697.98 lakh ha in the year-ago period, the data showed.
Commending the increase in the cultivation of rabi crops, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said, "This is a result of the combined efforts of our toiling farmer brothers and sisters, agricultural scientists and the farmer-friendly policies of the Modi government."
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As per the final data released by the ministry, wheat acreage has increased to 343.23 lakh hectares till February 3 of the current crop year, from 341.84 lakh ha in the year-ago period.
Higher area is reported from Rajasthan (2.52 lakh ha), Maharashtra (1.03 lakh ha), Bihar (0.94 lakh ha) and Uttar Pradesh (0.93 lakh ha).
In case of rice, there has been a sharp increase in coverage to 46.25 lakh ha in the rabi season of this year, as against 35.05 lakh ha in the year-ago period.
Maximum increase in area under rice is reported in Telangana and West Bengal. Area from rice is being diverted to other low-water consuming oilseeds, pulses and nutri-cereal crops, the ministry said in a statement.
Area sown to pulses rose marginally to 167.86 lakh ha during the rabi season of this year as against 167.31 lakh ha in the year-ago period. Out of which, gram area remained lower by 2.16 lakh ha at 112.01 lakh ha from the year-ago period, the data showed.
In case of oilseeds, the ministry said sown area rose marginally to 109.84 lakh ha in the rabi season of this year as against 102.36 lakh ha in the year-ago period. Out of this, rapeseed-mustard was 98.02 lakh ha.
Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh accounted for major expansion in area of oilseeds.
Area sown to nutri-coarse cereals also rose marginally to 53.49 lakh ha as against 51.49 lakh ha during the comparable season.
"The increased area brought under rice, oilseeds, pulses and nutri-cereals, along with higher productivity due to use of high yield variety seeds, will bring a milestone in foodgrain production in the country," the ministry said.
This will bring self-sufficiency in pulses, reduce import of edible oils and meet global demands of millets, it added.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)