November 19, 2007

India's wheat sowing drops to 347 million hectres
 

India's sowing of wheat during the ongoing winter planting season dropped to 3.47 million hectares during the week ended Noveber 16, down 34 percent from last year despite the Federal government hiking its intervention price, an official statement said Friday (November 16, 2007).

The Federal government recently hiked the wheat intervention price, the rate at which state-run agencies buy from farmers, by US$38 a tonne to US$254/tonne

Wheat planting is crucial for the country as it would determine whether the country needs to import the crop in next financial year that begins April.

India's rapeseed sowing also fell to 3.51 million hectares from 5.27 million hectares last year, a fall of 33 percent from the year earlier.

Rapeseed is the major oilseed grown in the winter season in India, sowing of which starts in October and harvesting takes place in February.

The government data also said that India's total winter oilseed sowing was down at 4.72 million hectares compared with 6.81 million hectares a year ago, down 30 percent on the year-earlier.

India's winter pulses sowing was marginally lower at 6.75 million hectares compared with 6.98 million hectares last year.