Rabi Crop Sowing increase by 36 lakh hectares

The Ministry of Agriculture on December 31, 2019, announced that the sowing area of rabi crops have increased by 36 lakh hectares. This is mainly due to improvement in soil moisture in Rabi growing states.

Highlights

The total area under Rabi crops was 536 hectares last year and this has increased to 571 hectares. Of these, wheat has been sown in 297 lakh hectares, rice has been sown in 14 lakh hectares, coarse cereals in 46 lakh hectares and oilseeds in 74 lakh hectares.

Rabi crops

The major Rabi crops in India are wheat, barley, sesame, peas, mustard. They are sown in winter between October and December and are harvested in summer between April and June. The major Rabi crop growing states in the country are UP, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, J&K and Himachal Pradesh.

The rabi crop cultivation becomes a success only when the availability of precipitation in winter months due to western disturbances are at right amount.

Other than India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are the other two countries in the world using the term Rabi and Kharif crops.

Release of Estimates

Annually, the agriculture ministry releases four estimates of agricultural crops. These estimates provide a detailed report on the sowing of crops in the country. The estimates are released in the months of September (when Kharif sowing is completed), February (after Rabi sowing is completed), April-May and in July-August.

Month: Current Affairs - January, 2020