SOWING OF RABI OILSEEDS AND PULSES
GAINS MOMENTUM
Reports of accelerated
sowing of rabi oilseeds and rabi pulses, particularly rapeseed
and mustard in northern India continues to pour in. The normal
area under Rabi Pulses is about 107 lakh hectares. The area reported
to be sown so far is about 51 lakh hectares which is ahead by
about 14 lakh hectares as compared to the corresponding period
last year. Gram is the main rabi pulses with the 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, 9 and 8
lakh hectares respectively. Gram sowing has accelerated and the
area covered so far is 35 lakh hectares which is ahead by about
17 lakh hectares as compared to the last year’s coverage in the
corresponding period.
The normal area under
rabi oilseeds is 79 lakh hectares. Major rabi oilseeds are rapeseed
and mustard, rabi groundnut, rabi sunflower, linseed and safflower
with a respective normal area of about 52,9,8,6 and 4 lakh hectares.The
reported area sown under rabi oilseeds so far is about 56 lakh
hectares which is ahead by about 17 lakh hectares as compared
to last year’s coverage. Rapeseed and mustard is the most prominent
rabi oilseed with the normal area of 52 lakh hectares. This is
about 63% of the total rabi oilseeds area. Major rapeseed and
mustard growing states are Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh,
Haryana and Gujarat with respective normal area of 19, 9,5,5 and
3 lakh hectares. Area reported this year so far under rapeseed
and mustard is 39 lakh hectares against 26 lakh hectares covered
last year in the corresponding period.
No gregarious locust
activity has been noticed during the surveys conducted by the
Locust Warning Organisation in various localities of the scheduled
desert area of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Intensive surveys are being
conducted to detect any locust activity in the entire scheduled
desert area.
There is no report
of shortage of any commonly used chemical pesticides or bio-pesticides
in the country. The incidence of pests and diseases remains below
the Economic Threshold Level generally for most of the crops.
