So far, rabi acreage this year is 8 lakh hectares (lh) higher than the same period last year, and with favourable weather continuing, there may be no concerns about yield, potentially helping the country to have another bumper harvest.
Haryana and Rajasthan have reported completion of sowing, while many other states' windows will close in the next two weeks, according to officials.
Signs of Good Harvest:
Sowing of all rabi crops increased 1% to 664.59 lh as of January 14 from 656.44 lh in the same period last year, according to the Agriculture Ministry's weekly update released Friday. According to the update, all crop conditions are normal.
Wheat acreage has decreased by 1.3% to 336.48 lakh hectares (lh) as of January 14 from 340.48 lh the previous year, while winter paddy has decreased by 18.5% to 19.82 lh from 24.33 lh. The area of coarse and nutri cereals has decreased by 2.2% to 47.82 lh from 48.91 lh, while that of pulses has remained constant at 160.2 lh. Oilseeds acreage is up by 21.8 percent to 100.27 lh from 82.34 lh, mainly due to higher area at 90.45 lh (up 24 percent) under mustard.
"As of today, there is no impact of the third wave of Covid 19 on the progress of area coverage," said a senior ministry official. The overall progress of crop sowing progress is very encouraging, though some crop damage has been reported by a few states, according to the official.
The recent good rainfall in major growing states of winter-sown crops will be beneficial to the crops. According to the most recent data as of January 11, Madhya Pradesh reported damage in 48,871 hectares, Rajasthan in 69,375 hectares, Uttar Pradesh in 1,11,700 hectares, Haryana in 97,676 hectares, and Maharashtra in 5,276 hectares as a result of recent heavy rains. Punjab has yet to assess the extent of its losses.
"Most states are still expected to reach the targeted area of pulses this month." Paddy sowing and transplanting will take place in the southern and eastern regions until the first week of February. Wheat, on the other hand, is nearly finished. The area coverage for rabi crops will be completed by the end of January, and progress on preliminary summer crop area coverage will be reported beginning in the first week of February, according to the official.
According to the Central Water Commission, storage in the country's 137 reservoirs as of January 13 was 101% of the previous year's corresponding period and 122% of the ten-year average.
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