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Rabi sowing expands for third year in a row: Govt data on impact of Covid
The area sown under rapeseed and mustard grew 25% per cent to nearly 9 million hectares, an all-time high for the rabi season.
The cultivated area under rabi or winter-sown crops has expanded for the third straight year, driven by a record jump in oilseeds, whose domestic output the government has sought to increase to cut expensive imports, according to official data that showed little impact of the third Covid wave on the farm sector.
Broader sowing patterns, as rabi sowing nears completion, also point to a positive trend, analysts said. Winter wheat and rice, which India produces in excess, showed a decline, while scarce oilseeds, such as rapeseed and mustard, registered a record increase in area.
Agriculture contributes nearly 17% to the country’s gross domestic product but employs nearly half of all Indians, making it a critical source of livelihood. The sector kept expanding during the pandemic, while most others shrunk. It is expected to grow 3.9% during the current financial year, according to the government’s advance estimates.
As the 2021-22 rabi-sowing season ends, farmers have cultivated about 69 million hectares, 1.2% higher than the area sown by the end of 2020-21 rabi season. Official data show a record expansion in the sown area for the third successive rabi season.
The area sown under rapeseed and mustard grew 25% per cent to nearly 9 million hectares, an all-time high for the rabi season. The expansion under the oilseeds was driven by higher prices of the produce this year. Oilseed prices trebled during 2021-22, mainly of because of costlier imports. This had a knock-on effect on prices of domestically produced oilseeds too.
Presenting the Union Budget 2022-23 on Feb 1, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed a new scheme to reduce India’s costly import of cooking oil. The country imports up to two-thirds of its edible oil because domestic output is not enough to meet demand.
Rapeseed and mustard expansion has taken place across states such as Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Gujarat. Rajasthan accounted for the largest increase in area by the end of January, when sowing comes to a close, recording a 38% jump.
The area under gram, a type of pulses, also shows record expansion this rabi to 11.4 million hectares, a rise of nearly 4% increase, an all-time high.
“The main reason for higher area under rapeseed and mustard is the steeply higher prices in agricultural markets. In November, average prices were ₹7,400 a quintal. Currently prices are still about 30% higher than last year,” said Avinash Agrawal, an analyst with Comtrade.
On the other hand, cereals, such as wheat, rice and millets, of which there’s usually a glut, showed some decline. By end-January, the area under wheat shrunk to 34.2 million hectares, a fall of 1%. This decline comes after record expansion in previous years, from about 31 million hectares sown in 2017-18 to about 35 million hectares in 2019-20.
The area under rice has also come down by about 20%, while acreage under coarse cereals too declined to 5 million hectare, a drop of about 3.5% per cent.
“The rabi season has been satisfactory so far. There will be plentiful harvests if crops are not affected by bad weather. This will help keep inflation low,” said Guna Nirverkar, an analyst with Aggrow, a firm that specializes in agricultural technologies.
