MillenniumPost
Nation

Little impact of demonetisation on Rabi crop sowing: Agri min report

The shortage of cash after demonetisation of high value currency notes might have crippled normal life, but it seemingly has had very little impact on sowing of Rabi crops.

Though the sowing has been delayed a little due to shortage of cash with farmers, the latest report 
of the Union Agriculture Ministry indicates that sowing acreage of wheat, pulses and oil seeds have increased from the previous Rabi season’s figures.

According to the report, which was released on Friday, reduced sowing acreage has been noticed in only coarse cereals – mainly in sowing of Rabi paddy, which is not a primary crop in Rabi season.

After the announcement of demonetisation on November 8 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it was speculated that the drive would have an adverse impact on sowing of Rabi crops due to shortage of cash with farmers.

However, the current sowing data has set aside all such speculations as sowing area of wheat has reached 79.40 lakh hectare, which was 78.83 lakh hectare in the same week last year.

Meanwhile, sowing area of pulses has registered an increase of about five lakh hectare in comparison to last year’s sowing figures.

As on November 18, sowing of pulses has covered 74.55 lakh hectare, which was 69.98 lakh hectare in last year.

Sowing area of oilseeds – another important Rabi crop – has also registered an increase of about nine lakh hectare from its last year coverage.

As of November 18, the sowing coverage of oilseeds is 56.16 lakh hectare, in comparison to 48.74 
lakh hectare in the previous Rabi season.

However, the total sowing area of Rabi crops has registered a slight reduction from the previous year as it has reduced from last year’s 243.38 lakh hectare to 241.73 lakh hectare this time.
Next Story
Share it