ACCELERATED SOWING OF RABI PULSES
AND OILSEEDS REPORTED
Reports of accelerated
sowing of rabi oilseeds and rabi pulses, particularly rapeseed
and mustard have been recorded from the northern parts of the
country. The normal area under Rabi oilseeds is 79 lakh hectares.
Major Rabi oilseeds are Rapeseed & Mustard, Rabi Groundnut,
Rabi Sunflower, Linseed and Safflower with a normal area of about
52, 9, 8, 6 and 4 lakh hectares respectively. Reported area sown
under Rabi Oilseeds so far is about 44 lakh hectares which is
more than 12 lakh hectares as compared to last year’s coverage.
Area reported this year so far under Rapeseed & Mustard
is 28 lakh hectares against 10 lakh hectares covered
last year in the corresponding period. Accelerated sowing has
taken place in Rajasthan, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Major
Rapeseed & Mustard growing States are Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Gujarat with a normal area of 19,
9, 5, 5 and 3 lakh hectares respectively.
As regards Rabi
pulses, the area reported to be sown so far is about 24 lakh hectares
which is ahead by about 11 lakh hectares as compared to the corresponding
period last year. The normal area under Rabi pulses is about 106
lakh hectares. Gram sowing has also accelerated and the area covered
so far is 16 lakh hectares which is ahead by about 8 lakh hectares
as compared to the corresponding period last year. Gram is the
main crop under Rabi pulses with a normal area of 58 lakh hectares
which is about 57% of the total Rabi pulses area. The major Bengal
gram producing States are Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar
Pradesh with a normal area of 22, 8 and 8 lakh hectares respectively.
Wheat is a major
rabi cereal with a normal area of about 264 lakh hectares which
is about 55% of the area under Rabi foodgrains. Wheat sowing gains
momentum with the average temperature descending to 25oC.
Major wheat growing States in the country are Uttar Pradesh ,
Madhya Pradesh, Punjab , Rajasthan , Haryana and Bihar with normal
area of 91, 38,34,24,23 and 21 lakh hectares respectively. Wheat
sowing has commenced and area coverage reported so far is 7 lakh
hectares against 9 lakh hectares covered last year in the corresponding
period.
Normal area under
Rabi Rice is about 42 lakh hectares. West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh
account for two thirds of the area and it is mostly irrigated.
Sowing of Rabi Rice has commenced in the Southern Peninsula.
Total normal area
under Rabi coarse cereals is 6.8 lakh hectares.Major Rabi Coarse
Cereal is Rabi Jowar with a normal area of about 5.3 lakh hectares.
Area reported so far under Rabi Coarse Cereals is about 4.4 lakh
hectares which is about 2 lakh hectares more than last year’s
coverage in the corresponding period.
No gregarious locust
activity has been noticed during the surveys conducted by the
Locust Warning Organization in various localities of the Scheduled
Desert Area of Gujarat and Rajasthan . Intensive surveys are being
conducted to detect any Locust activity in the Scheduled Desert
Area.
There is no report
of shortage of any commonly used chemical pesticides or bio-pesticides
in the country. The incidence of pest & diseases remains below
the Economic Threshold Level generally for most of the crops.
As on the seventh
of this month, total water storage in the 71 important reservoirs
monitored by the Central Water Commission was about 60% of the
full reservoir level of 131.28 billion cubic meters. This is 120%
of the last year’s level and 81% of last 10 years’ average. Bhima
reservoir in Maharashtra has no utilizable water.
