According to Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda, the country’s wheat production is expected to be good this year despite higher coverage.
Sowing of wheat, the main rabi (winter) crop, which began in October, has been completed. Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab are the three largest states with the maximum wheat area.
“As per sowing data, wheat has been harvested on a larger area and we are expecting good production this year,” Munda told PTI.
As per the ministry data, the total area under wheat crop till the last week of the current rabi season of the 2023-2024 crop year (July-June) remained higher at 336.96 lakh hectares compared to 335.67 lakh hectares in the year. ago period.
On January 3, Food Corporation of India Chairman and Managing Director Ashok K Meena indicated that the country could achieve a new record in wheat production of 114 million tonnes in the current crop year 2023-2024, provided weather conditions remain normal.
Wheat production reached a record 110.55 million tonnes in the 2022-2023 crop year, up from 107.7 million tonnes in the previous year.
Talking about the prospects for this year’s wheat crop, a senior Agriculture Ministry official said the crop is in good condition and there have been no reports of any damage to the crop so far.
“The current cold weather conditions are good for the growth of wheat and other rabi crops,” he said.
Climate-resilient seeds have been sown in more than 70 per cent of the total wheat area in both Punjab and Haryana this year, he said.
The two states have sown wheat on a total area of about 59 lakh hectares this year, the data showed.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture has started issuing regular advisories to help farmers take care of the wheat crop after completion of sowing.
As per the latest advisory for the period January 16 to 30, the ministry has asked farmers to complete nitrogen fertilizer application until 40 to 45 days after sowing. Farmers have been asked to apply urea just before irrigation for better results.
If farmers notice both narrow and broadleaf weeds in their wheat field in late sown weeds, they have been advised to spray herbicide Sulfosulfuron 75WG at about 13.5 grams per acre or Sulfosulfuron plus Metsulfuron at 16 grams per acre in 120-150 liters. water before the first irrigation or 10-15 days after irrigation.
Given the favorable humid weather for yellow rust disease, farmers are advised to visit their crops regularly to observe the incidence of ‘stripe rust’ (yellow rust).
To address the lodging of early-sown wheat crops, farmers have been asked to supply ‘growth regulators’ in high-fertility irrigated conditions. For frost management, light irrigation should be applied to wheat crops, paying due attention to the Met Department’s forecasts.
The Met Department has forecast rain in the northeastern and central areas of India during January 16 to 30 and temperatures are expected to fall below normal in the coming week.
The government is taking proactive steps to help farmers prepare to save the wheat crop in the event of extreme weather events.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
First print: January 19, 2024 | 12:31 pm IST