The area under oilseeds has increased by 8900 hectares (21,983 acres), the report says. (Representational image)
The area dedicated under Rabi crops in Punjab has seen an increase compared to 2018, though less than the target set by the Agriculture Department, according to the field survey report. However, the area under the main Rabi crop — wheat — was less than the previous year’s.
The sowing of wheat, barley, gram, lentil, peas, and Rabbi oil seeds have concluded in December and the survey of the exact area under each crop is still going on. But, the agriculture department received the reports from all the 22 districts.
As per the report received on Tuesday, the total the area recorded under Rabi crops was 35.65 lakh hectares, against the previous year’s 35.57 lakh hectares — an increase of 7,103.4 hectares (17, 545 acres).
This year, the area under wheat crop was 35.05 lakh hectares (86.57 lakh acres), while in 2018, it was 35.14 lakh hectares (86.79 lakh acres). While area under the winter crop has reduced by 9000 hectares from the previous season, around 15,000 hectares area has increased under wheat against the target set by the agriculture department.
Director Punjab Agriculture Department Dr. Sutantra Kumar said that they have tried to achieve the target this year and were quite close to it as the area under oilseeds has seen a big increase as compared to last year.
He said that this area recorded may increase because the survey was still going on in some districts.
Another senior officer said, “As wheat is sown in 98% of the area under Rabi crops, we wanted to divert it for other crops like oilseeds and lentils. But due to fixed Minimum Support Price (MSP) of wheat its market is assured while that is not the case with other crops.”
The area under oilseeds has increased by 8900 hectares (21,983 acres), the report says.
In 2019, around 39,000 hectares have come under these seeds, which include mainly mustard oil seed. However, the target was set for bringing 40,000 hectares under oilseeds.
The area under peas was increased to 6,000 in 2019 compared to 3400 hectares in 2018. In case of peas also, the target set was higher — 7,000 hectares.
Lentil was sown in 2,200 hectares in 2019, marking an 1500 hectares from the previous season. The target set by the agricultural department was 3, 000 hectares . The senior officers said since Punjab is dependent other states for lentils and oilseeds, increasing the area under these crops will benefit the state.
The area under barley has increased by 2,600 hectares in 2019 from the previous year’s 6800 hectares. While the target set was 15,000 hectares, 9400 hectares have been brought under it. Gram crop has been cultivated on 3,400 hectares against 1900 hectares of last year but the target was 5,000 hectares.
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