Mustard sowing slow in Rajasthan - area reached above 18.75 lakh hectares
02-Nov-2024 03:13 PM
Jaipur. Farmers are showing great interest in early sowing of this most important oilseed crop of Rabi season in Rajasthan, the country's leading mustard producing state.
As a result, by the end of October 2024, the mustard production area in the state reached close to 18.75 lakh hectares, which is 46 percent of the sowing target of 40.50 lakh hectares set for the current Rabi season.
Last year, the target of sowing mustard was set in 40-01 lakh hectares, while by 31 October 2023, the total area had reached 22 lakh hectares.
In this way, the area of mustard during the current season is about 3.25 lakh hectares behind as compared to last year.
It is noteworthy that Rajasthan is the most prominent mustard producing state in the country. After this comes Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Bengal and Gujarat.
It is also produced well in some other states including Bihar, Jharkhand and Assam. Mustard is sown between October and December, while its harvesting and preparation gains momentum from March.
During the current year, the southwest monsoon season saw more rainfall than the normal average at the national level and the water reserves in dams and reservoirs also increased.
But there was a lack of rain in some parts of Rajasthan, due to which the moisture content in the soil of the fields has decreased.
Due to this, the sowing of mustard is lagging behind. Apart from this, the mustard crop there is also facing the challenge of gram and wheat. Barley is also produced on a large scale in Rajasthan.
By the end of October, the area of gram in Rajasthan reached 7.25 lakh hectares, which is about one-third of the target of 22.50 lakh hectares.
The target for wheat and barley cultivation has been set at 35.81 lakh hectares, while the actual sowing has been done in only 56 thousand hectares.
The target for wheat sowing has been fixed at 32 lakh hectares, which is more than last year's actual area of 31.06 lakh hectares.