India: Punjab sees 34.9 lakh hectares under wheat this Rabi season

According to field reports collected from districts by the Punjab agriculture department, the state has recorded around 34.90 lakh hectares under wheat crop this year compared to 35.26 lakh hectares last year.

This year the state targeted to divert around 75,000 hecatres from wheat to oilseed of which nearly 48% target could be achieved. Of the districts, Hoshiarpur district saw the maximum area diversion of around 10,000 hectares, followed by Fazilka at 7,000 hectares, Mohali at nearly 4,000 hectares. The rest of the districts recorded 1,000 to 2,000 hectares less area under the crop this year.

The maximum area under wheat was dedicated in Sangrur where 2.91 lakh hectare was recorded against almost the same last year, Bathinda also recorded 2.60 lakh hectares against around 2.61 lakh hectares last year, Ludhiana recorded 2.43 lakh hectares this year against 2.44 lakh hectares last year, Patiala’s area under wheat is 2.33 lakh hectare against 2.34 last year, Muktsar Sahib recorded 2.18 lakh hectares against 2.19 lakh hectares last year, Firozepur recorded 1.87 lakh hectares against 1.88 lakh hectares last year. In Gurdaspur, the area under wheat was recorded at 1.83 lakh hectares this year against 1.84 lakh hectares last year.

Ropar and Tarn Taran are the only two districts of the 23 in the state where a little increase in wheat area was recorded compared to last year. In Ropar, around 68,000 hectares was recorded against 67,500 hectares last year and in Tarn Taran, 1.86 lakh hectares were recorded against around 1.85 lakh hectares last year.

In Punjab, at 39,000 hectares, the lowest area under wheat is recorded in Pathankot, followed by Mohali where less than 50,000 hectares is dedicated to the crop.

Last year due to the early heatwave in March when the crop was in the last leg of its maturity wheat grain got shriveled and productivity was reduced manifold.

The state had recorded around 42.16 quintals of wheat per hectare last year against the normal average of the state which is between 50 and 51 quintals. This implies that the state recorded overall around 16% less yield while in some districts, losses were between 20% to 25% per hectare.

Director of Punjab Agriculture Department Dr Gurvinder Singh said that this year they wanted to increase the area under Rabi oilseeds – mustard/rapeseed crops – and they could divert nearly 36,000 hectares from wheat. He added that though they wanted to decrease the area under wheat by up to 34.50 lakh hectares, the department achieved a fair target.