As per the data, the total area under oilseeds has increased from 80.64 lakh hectare as on December 31, 2021 to 97.07 lakh hectare.
According to the latest data released by the Agriculture Ministry, the area sown under rapeseed/mustard crop has increased by 22.46 per cent to 88.54 lakh hectares, while the coverage of wheat crop in the current 2021-22 rabi season is slightly lower.
Wheat, the main Rabi crop, has been sown in 325.88 lakh hectares on Friday as against 329.11 lakh hectares in the same period a year ago.
Sowing of Rabi crops like wheat starts in October and harvesting starts from April.
According to the data, the total area under oilseeds increased sharply to 97.07 lakh hectare as on December 31, 2021, from 80.64 lakh hectare in the year-ago period.
The maximum area under rapeseed and mustard in oilseeds was around 88.54 lakh hectares during the period under review, as against 72.30 lakh hectares in the year-ago period. The data shows that the area under groundnut remained flat at 3.64 lakh hectare, linseed at 2.57 lakh hectare, sunflower 1.01 lakh hectare, safflower 0.68 lakh hectare, sesame at 0.30 lakh hectare and other oilseeds at 0.33 lakh hectare during this period.
The increase in the area under mustard crop is a positive sign for a country that is dependent on imports to meet 60% of its domestic requirement and is struggling to keep retail prices under control amid global price hike conditions. Used to be.
In case of other major rabi crops, the area sown under pulses remained marginally lower at 152.62 lakh hectares as on December 31, 2021, as against 154.04 lakh hectares in the year-ago period.
Chana, the main rabi pulse, was grown in a slightly higher area of 107.69 lakh hectares as against 105.68 lakh hectares in the year-ago period.
The area under lentils was slightly higher in 16.76 lakh hectares, while peas were sown in 9.61 lakh hectares, Kulthi in 3.34 lakh hectares, urad bean in 5.66 lakh hectares, moong in 2.29 lakh hectares and Lathyrus in 3.32 lakh hectares. The ongoing Rabi season of the 2021-22 crop year (July-June).
There was less coverage under coarse-co-nutritive cereals as the total area was less at 45.05 lakh hectare as against 46.19 lakh hectare. So far this rabi season sowing of jowar was lagging behind in 23.17 lakh hectares as against 26.05 lakh hectares in the year-ago period, while maize was sown at 14.80 lakh hectares as against 12.89 lakh hectares. The data shows that the total area under all rabi crops has increased to 634.68 lakh hectares so far in the 2021-22 rabi season from 625.04 lakh hectares in the year-ago period.