Wheat sowing figure reaches close to last year's level

Wheat planting has been done in 298.47 lakh hectare so far in the ongoing rabi (winter) season, which is close to the year-ago period, according to the agriculture ministry. However, sowing of rice, pulses, coarse cereals and oilseeds remained slightly lower than the year-ago period, the ministry said in a statement. Sowing of wheat, the main rabi crop, begins from October and harvesting from March-April. According to the latest data, wheat sown area reached 298.47 lakh hectare so far in the rabi season 2018-19 as against 299.84 lakh hectare a year ago. Farmers have planted wheat in 99.13 lakh hectare in Uttar Pradesh, 59.11 lakh hectare in Madhya Pradesh, 35.02 lakh hectare in Punjab, 25.16 lakh hectare in Haryana and 22.56 lakh hectare in Bihar so far.