Wheat sowing land allocation in India shows increase

India's wheat-sowing area as of December 17 rose 2.2% on the year to 23.1 million hectares.

According to government data, the acreage under wheat on the same date last year was 22.6 million hectares.

India is the world's second-largest wheat producer. Sowing of wheat, a staple grain in the country, usually starts in November, and the crop is harvested from March. 

It aims to raise its 2009-10 wheat harvest by 2 million metric tons to offset a drop in the output of summer-sown food grains due to drought and flooding.

The country had a bumper wheat harvest of 80.58 million tons in the 2008-09 fiscal year, ended March 31.

The area under winter oilseeds as of December 17 declined to 8.13 million hectares from 8.51 million hectares a year ago.

The area under rapeseed, the main oilseed grown in winter, declined to 6.25 million hectares from 6.4 million hectares a year earlier.