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Area sown to wheat rose 2.77 per cent to Rs 324.38 lakh hectares so far in the ongoing 2024-25 rabi season, while oilseeds acreage remained lower, according to the agriculture ministry data released on Monday. Sowing of wheat, the main rabi (winter) crop, is completed and the harvesting will begin from April. As per the data, wheat acreage increased to 324.38 lakh hectare as on January 27 from 315.63 lakh hectares in the year-ago. Area sown to pulses rose to 142.49 lakh hectares from 139.29 lakh hectares, while sowing of coarse cereals remained flat at 55.67 lakh hectares so far this rabi season. However, total area under oilseeds remained lower at 98.18 lakh hectares as on January 27 as against 108.52 lakh hectares in the year-ago period. Total area sown to rabi crops rose to 655.88 lakh hectares from 643.72 lakh hectares in the said period.
The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai, has introduced eight new high-yielding, climate-resilient varieties of wheat, rice and oilseeds, it said on Friday. Developed using radiation-based mutation breeding techniques, these non-GMO crop varieties are set to "revolutionise" agriculture across India, the BARC said in a statement here. The new varieties -- five cereals and three oilseeds -- are tailored to diverse agricultural conditions and were launched in collaboration with state agricultural universities. Speaking at the launch, Ajit Kumar Mohanty, Secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, highlighted BARC's significant contribution in enhancing farmer incomes and boosting food and nutritional security. Vivek Bhasin, Director, BARC, called these varieties a "boon for farmers" due to their early maturity, disease resistance, climate resilience, salt tolerance, and higher yields compared to existing options. India's
The government on Thursday approved National Mission on Edible Oils-Oilseeds with an outlay of Rs 10,103 crore to make India self-sufficient in cooking oils. India imports more than 50 per cent of its annual edible oil requirement. "With an aim to make India self reliant in oilseed production in next 7 years, Cabinet approves National Mission on Edible Oils '? Oilseeds (NMEO-Oilseeds) for 2024-25 to 2030-31 with outlay of Rs 10,103 crore," the government said on social media platform X. The mission aims to increase primary oilseed production from 39 million tonnes in 2022-23 to 69.7 million tonnes by 2030-31, the government said. "It seeks to extend oilseed cultivation by an additional 40 lakh hectares," it added. India imports palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia while soyabean oil is imported from Brazil and Argentina. Sunflower comes mainly from Russia and Ukraine.
India's oilseed exports are expected to grow by 10-15 per cent during this fiscal as traders are getting good orders from regions like Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa, according to exporters. In 2022-23, the oilseed exports rose by over 20 per cent to USD 1.33 billion (around Rs 10,900 crore). The main oilseeds exported by the country are groundnut, sesame, soyabean, castor, niger, and sunflower. Former Chairman Indian Oilseeds and Produce Export Promotion Council (IOPEPC) Khushwant Jain said the order books are good and "we expect healthy growth this year also". Soyabean and groundnut occupy 61 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively of the total kharif oilseeds area, he said adding the planting of sunflower stands at 19.7 per cent and sesame at 12.4 per cent. He said Madhya Pradesh alone has one-third (34.64 per cent) of the national oilseeds area followed by Maharashtra (22 per cent), Gujarat (13.53 per cent) Rajasthan (11.43 per cent), Karnataka (5.04 per cent), Andhra
Wheat acreage has increased 3 per cent so far in the ongoing rabi season at 286.5 lakh hectare mainly on higher sowing area in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, the government data showed. The area under coverage for wheat, which is the major crop in rabi (winter-sown) season, stood at 278.25 lakh hectare in the same period last year. Sowing of rabi crops starts from October. Higher area under wheat has been reported mainly from Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Karnataka. Acreage is down so far in Maharashtra and Haryana. Increase in wheat sowing area may lead to higher production provided the weather remains conducive for growth of this crop. The domestic production of wheat fell to 106.84 million tonne in 2021-22 crop year (July-June) from 109.59 million tonne in the previous year due to heat wave in some of the producing states. In May this year, the government banned exports of wheat to boost domestic supplies and cont