State running behind wheat sowing target

Parveen Arora
Tribune News Service
Karnal, January 10

With the sowing of wheat almost over, the state is running behind the target of cultivating the crop over 25.23 lakh hectares.

The area under wheat cultivation has shrunk to around 40,000 hectares in Haryana, a key wheat growing state. As per the report released by the Directorate of Wheat Development, Ghaziabad, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare, wheat sowing was completed on 24.61 lakh hectare till January 1, covering 97.56 per cent of the targeted area. Last year, wheat was sown on 25.03 lakh hectares.

The authorities are hopeful Haryana will cover its target by January-end as sowing is still going on in some areas of the state.

“We are hopeful that we will achieve the target yield. Farmers have sown most effective varieties, including HD-2967, HD-3086, WH-1105 and others, which will contribute to high yield,” said Dr GP Singh, Director, Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR).

“Sowing is running late by 20 days as compared to 2015-16 and 13 days in comparison to 2016-17. Cultivation is still going on in some areas, so we will achieve the target,” he maintained.

He said the country had fixed a target of wheat sowing over 318.75 lakh hectares, of which 288.36 lakh hectares had been covered. “We will achieve the production target of 100 MT this year,” he said.

Dr Singh denied occurrence of yellow rust in North India so far and said climatic conditions were against the disease. He, however, said farmers should remain vigilant. “If the same climatic conditions prevail, there is no need to worry about yellow rust,” he said.

“We have issued an advisory on yellow rust in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Western Uttar Pradesh. Last year, yellow rust was first noticed in Punjab on January 9. The impact of the disease will be minimum this year due to dry weather,” the Director said.

24.61 lakh hectares covered

• As per the report released by the Directorate of Wheat Development, Ghaziabad, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare, wheat sowing was completed on 24.61 lakh hectare till January 1, covering 97.56 per cent of the targeted 
• Last year, wheat was sown on 25.03 lakh hectares
• The authorities are hopeful Haryana will cover its target by January-end as sowing is still going on in some areas of the state