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Rabi season sowing hits five-year low in Mahar​ashtra

Pune: Rabi season sowing has hit a five-year low in Maharashtra, with wheat being the worst-affected crop so far.

Ministry of agriculture data revealed that the sowing of main rabi crops like maize and gram in the state till November 6, 2019, was just about 0.167 lakh hectares and 0.223 lakh hectares, respectively — least for the period since 2014-15.



The data also revealed that wheat sowing was worst-affected in Maharashtra, with the sowing completed on just 0.01 lakh hectares till November 7, 2019 — again the lowest for the period since 2014-15.

A state agriculture department official said ‘Whaapasa’ conditions began two to three days ago, prompting a bulk of farmers to finally begin sowing their fields. ‘Whaapasa’ refers to the mixture of 50% air and 50% water vapour in the cavities between two soil particles.

“Rabi sowing is expected to pick up as rain has stopped. When sugar cane will be harvested, farmers will also use that area for sowing wheat and gram. Rabi jowar sowing, however, has been delayed immensely as against normal and is expected to be completed by November 15,” he said.

Purushottam Mangte Patil, an Akola-based farmer, said a majority of farmers in parts of Vidarbha, especially Akola and Buldhana, have not begun rabi sowing yet as the soils have not dried.

“Though it is not raining here any more, the soils are still wet owing to high humidity in the air. In fact, Saturday saw instances of dew in fields. Rabi sowing usually begins full-fledged after Diwali, which has not happened this time around. Sowing for the major rabi crops like gram, sunflower, jawar and wheat is lagging,” said Patil.

Satyavan Batwal, the head of the Amrut Sanjivani Agro Producer Company Limited at Chimbali in Khed, said, “Rabi sowing has been delayed by 15 days to three weeks, which is likely to cause a dip in rabi crop production. By this time, we should have completed at least 50% of rabi season sowing, but only 10-15% sowing has happened so far due to the inclement rains. The moisture content in the fields is still high.”

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