The retreating monsoon did not give good rains in the country this year due to which moisture content in the soil - conducive for Rabi crops - is lacking. This is expected to have a bearing on the current Rabi season as the sowing of Rabi crops has fallen behind schedule across the country. The sowing area of oilseeds crop is far less than what it was last year during the same period. Similarly the sowing of wheat, which is the main Rabi crop, is expected to get delayed.
Due to poor rains there isn’t enough moisture in the soil to carry out the first round of sowing of Rabi crops. A substantial drop has been observed in the sowing area of oilseeds crop. Till last week the sowing of oilseeds crop had fallen short by twenty lakh hectare, which is a serious concern looking at the shortfall in edible oils. During Rabi season, farming of mustard and linseed is done at a large scale in our country. The consumption of mustard oil is the highest in North India.
According to the new data released by the agriculture ministry, farming of oilseeds crop has been done on 19.91 lakh hectare of land till last week, which is way below last year’s figure of 31.76 lakh hectare during the same period.
The sowing of wheat has also taken a blow. According to the new data available, the sowing of wheat has been done only on 2.76 lakh hectare of land compared to 4.47 lakh hectare last year during the same period.
To tackle this problem, adequate irrigation facilities need to be provided to the farmers. Otherwise this is going to be a perennial problem and the farmers will be the worst sufferers.
Image Credit: countercurrents.org
