67% Wheat Harvested, Summer Crop Sowing in Progress: Agriculture Minister

Wheat crop harvesting reached around 67 per cent of the total area under cultivation so far and summer crop sowing is also in progress despite a nationwide lockdown as timely intervention by the central and state governments has ensured that there is minimal or no disruption to the farm activities, said the Union Agriculture Ministry.

According to the Union Ministry of Agriculutre and Farmers welfare, the total area under wheat crop this rabi season is 310 lakh hectares of which 63-67 per cent has already been harvested in the country.

State-wise harvesting has also reached to 90-95 per cent in Madhya Pradesh, 80-85 per cent in Rajasthan, 60-65 per cent in Uttar Pradesh, 30-35 per cent in Haryana and 10-15 per cent in Punjab, said the ministry in a statement.

Wheat harvesting has gathered pace after April 15 in Punjab when the state government kicked off procurement, harvesting is also on peak in Haryana where procurement of wheat is likely to begin on Monday.

The government expects that wheat harvesting will be complete in Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh by the end of this month.

As per the reports, Punjab has deployed 18,000 combines and Haryana has deployed 5,000 combines for harvesting and threshing.

Out of the total pulses acreage of 161 lakh hectares, harvesting of gram, lentil, urad, moong and field pea has been completed.

For sugarcane, out of the total sown in 54.29 lakh ha, harvesting has been completed in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Punjab. For the states of Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Haryana and Uttarakhand, 92-98 per cent harvesting has been completed. In Uttar Pradesh, 75-80 per cent has been completed and this will continue till mid-May 2020, said the statement.

Amongst the oilseed crops, rapeseed mustard sown in 69 lakh ha has been harvested in the states of Rajasthan, UP, MP, Haryana, Bengal, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Punjab, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and UT of Jammu & Kashmir. Groundnut sown in 4.7 lakh ha, has been harvested to the tune of 85-90 per cent.

"All throughout India, numerous farmers and agriculture labour are sweating and toiling against all adversities. Their silent efforts, coupled with timely intervention by the central and state governments, have ensured that there is minimal or no disruption to harvesting activities and the continued sowing of summer crops," said the Agriculture Ministry.

While the Ministry of Home Affairs issued the consolidated guidelines on the measures to be taken for containment of COVID-19, it also ensured smooth functioning of agricultural operations. Timely interventions and exemptions have resulted in optimistic results.

Summer crop sowing is also in progress as the area under summer crop across the country has exceeded over 14 per cent compared to last year during the corresponding period.

As on date, the total summer crop area has increased to 52.78 lakh hectares from 38.64 lakh hectares as compared to the corresponding period a year ago.