In the current rabi sowing season, Rajasthan farmers have selected mustard and wheat crops over gram (chana), which may jeopardise the State government's goal of diverting more land from cereal to pulses and oilseed crops.
In comparison to the previous year, mustard acreage has increased by 40% to 32.65 lakh hectare (lh) as of November 26. For the current season, the government increased the mustard acreage objective to 28 lh, up from 27 lh previous year.
Official data reveal that, despite a 3.2% fall in wheat area objective from last year's actual sowing of 31 lh, farmers have increased acreage by 25% to 19.01 lakh hectare.
Early Onset Of Winter
"Strong pricing and the early advent of winter are the key factors for the expansion in wheat and mustard area." We can have a clear picture because sowing is expected to be completed in a fortnight - a few weeks early than usual," said a State government official.
Rajasthan is the nation's top mustard producer and ranks fifth in wheat production.
Wheat Procurement Increased
The Food Corporation of India (FCI) boosted their wheat procurement for the Central Pool stock in Rajasthan by 5% in 2021, to 2.34 million tonnes (mt), compared to the previous year. During the primary harvesting period of April-June 2021, farmers earned an average of Rs1,872 per quintal in mandis, compared to a minimum support price (MSP) of Rs1,925 per quintal.
Similarly, between April-June, mandi prices for mustard were Rs6,074-Rs6,641 per quintal, or 31 to 43 percent higher than the MSP of Rs4,650 per quintal.
