The total area under all rabi crops increased by 1.5 per cent year-on-year to 493.62 lakh hectares (lh) as of December 6 compared with 486.30 lh a year ago. It is 78 per cent of the season’s normal 635.60 lh. The area under almost all rabi crops, except barley and mustard, is higher, the Agriculture Ministry said on Monday.

The government has fixed the production target of 115 million tonnes (mt) for wheat, 14.55 mt for rice, 12 mt for maize, 13.65 mt for chana, 1.65 mt for masur, 13.8 mt for mustard and 2.25 mt for barley during the current rabi season. The acreage of crops is the key factor in determining production as farmers normally select crops which command higher prices in the market.

According to a top official in the Agriculture Ministry, the sowing has been good except in mustard. As of now, there is no concern. He said earlier there was some issues with higher temperatures and the current spell of rains in the north-west region and snowfall in the hills will aid the crop growth. However, he was cautious in estimating the rabi crops production as he said a lot depends on how the temperature pans out during crucial February-March period.

Oilseeds trail

Sowing of wheat, the key rabi season’s cereal, is up by 2.3 per cent at 239.49 lh as of December 6 against 234.15 lh a year ago. Some experts have expressed concerns over delayed sowing of wheat this year as its normal window closes by mid-November in the north-west region. But, the government is hopeful of achieving the targetted production.

The sowing of all pulses has reached 120.65 lh against 115.70 lh led by chana (gram) at 86.09 lh, which is 7.1 per cent higher from 80.35 lh. Masur (lentil) acreage too has increased 1.7 per cent at 14.75 lh against 14.50 lh.

But, the mustard area has dipped 4.3 per cent at 81.07 lh from 84.70 lh and groundnut has dropped 8.1 per cent to 2.31 lh from 2.51 lh. But the safflower acreage is higher at 52,000 hectares from 49,000 hectares. The area under all rabi oilseeds crops has fallen 4.4 per cent to 86.52 lh from 84.70 lh.

Wheat bonus impact

In Rajasthan, which has a share of about 40 per cent in total area under mustard in the country, the sowing this year has declined to 32.69 lh from 34.96 lh. But State officials said they are hopeful of reaching the targetted 40 lh this year as last year also 5 lh more sowing was reported after first week of December. On the other hand, farmer leaders said there could be some shifting towards wheat and chana from mustard this year due to the price factor.

The State government has announced a bonus of ₹125/quintal over and above its minimum support price (MSP) of ₹2,425/quintal on wheat procurement starting from March 10, 2025, and has sought approval from the Union Food Ministry. Wheat sowing in the State reached 26.18 lh against 22.60 lh a year ago while the target is to raise the area to 32 lh. The area under chana is also up at 19.69 lh from 17.80 lh in Rajasthan.

Winter season’s paddy acreage is also higher at 11.19 lh against 10.93 lh a year ago. The area under rabi maize is at par with a coverage of 10.07 lh from 10.05 lh and that of barley was down by 8.1 per cent at 5.65 lh against 6.14 lh a year ago.

In the total foodgrains target of 341.55 mt set for the 2024-25 crop year (July-June), the contribution of rabi season’s foodgrains is set to be 164.55 mt or more than 48 per cent.