According to the Agriculture Ministry, during Rabi season 2020 NAFED has procured 1,07,814 MT Pulses (Gram: 1,06,170 MT) and Oilseeds on MSP totaling of Rs. 526.84 crore. This has benefitted 75,984 farmers. India had a good crop of wheat, in surplus of its own demand.
The wheat producing States have reported 26-33 percent harvesting against the total sown area. To contain the spread of COVID-19, the Government has advised farmers to maintain social distancing during sowing of kharif crops besides wearing face masks and using hand sanitizer to avoid any infection.
Amid the nationwide coronavirus lockdown, pre-monsoon sowing of kharif crops has begun across the country with paddy acreage 27 percent higher at 32.58 lakh hectare so far as compared to last season.
As per the latest data by the Ministry of Agriculture, farmers have sown paddy in 32.58 lakh hectare as on Friday, up 27 percent, from 23.81 lakh hectare in the corresponding period of last year. Total area planted under all kharif crops has increased to 48.76 lakh hectare so far this season as against 37.12 lakh hectare in same period last year.
The Ministry of Agriculture has asked NAFED to export 50,000 metric tonnes (MT) wheat to Afghanistan and 40,000 MT wheat to Lebanon on their specific demands under G2G arrangement.
The sowing area has been reported mainly from West Bengal (11.25 lakh hectare), Telangana (7.45 lakh hectare), Odisha (3.13 lakh hectare), Assam (2.73 lakh hectare), Karnataka (1.64 lakh hectare) and Chhattisgarh (1.50 lakh hectare). The sowing will pick up with the onset of south-west monsoon (June-September), which delivers about 70 per cent of the country’s annual rainfall. Paddy is the main kharif crop besides pulses and oilseeds. Kharif season starts from June and ends in September.
Some other States are also on the list including Tamil Nadu (1.30 lakh hectare), Bihar (1.22 lakh hectare), Maharashtra (0.65 lakh hectare), Madhya Pradesh (0.59 lakh hectare), Gujarat (0.54lakh hectare) and Kerala (0.46 lakh hectare), the ministry said.
Area sown to pulses has increased to 3.97 lakh hectare from 3.01 lakh hectare in the said period. Of which, green gram has been planted in 2.59 lakh hectare and black gram in 1.23 lakh hectare and other pulses in 0.15 lakh hectare so far. Similarly, area under coarse cereals has increased to 5.54 lakh hectare so far in the current kharif season of this year from 4.33 lakh hectare a year-ago. Of which, maize has been planted in 2.81 lakh hectare and bajra in 2.51 lakh hectare in the said period. In case of oilseeds too, the sowing area has increased to 6.66 lakh hectare from 5.97 lakh hectare in the said period. Of which, groundnut has been sown in 4.08 lakh hectare, while that of sesamum in 2.13 lakh hectare in the said period.
The ministry has circulated the SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) related to crop harvesting and threshing during Kharif 2020 to the States to protect health of farmers and farm workers and to contain the spread of Coronavirus outbreak.
