Rabi acreage shows 2.9 per cent drop at 59.15 million hectares

NEW DELHI: Planting of key winter-sown crops such as wheat, chickpea and mustard has seen a drop this season so far as temperatures were unusually high. As of Thursday, rabi crops were planted on 59.15 million hectares, a drop of 2.9 per cent from this time last year, according to data from the agriculture ministry.

With sowing set to end soon, rains over northwestern India, particularly the grain-bowl states of Punjab and Haryana, could benefit the standing rabi crop, said scientists.

In 2015, rabi crop acreage was 60.93 million hectares at this time. The normal area for the entire season, based on the average of last five years, is 63.30 million hectares. The ministry will release the final report for this season's sowing next week.

The major rabi crop - wheat, which is in the growing stage and will be harvested from March – has seen a drop in area by 4.4 per cent from a year earlier at 29.25 million hectare as of Thursday, the data showed.

Farmers need to watch out for the yellow pest infestation, as the weather is conducive for its spread, agriculture scientists said.

Area under chana (chickpea), a key rabi pulse, has fallen 0.3 per cent to 8.55 million hectares. In the case of maize, the drop has been 1.9 per cent at 1.46 million hectares.

Area under the key rabi oilseed, mustard, was also lower, by 1 per cent at 6.45 million hectares.