Context: According to data released by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, even though farmers have surpassed last year’s acreage under wheat, the increase in sown area in the 2022-23 Rabi season has been only marginal — by 0.4 per cent.
Rabi cropping season is from October-March (winter).
The rabi crops include wheat, barley, oats (cereals), chickpea/gram (pulses), linseed, mustard (oilseeds) etc.
Rabi Crops are agricultural crops that are planted in the winter and harvested in the spring.
Wheat
Wheat, which is sown and harvested during the rabi season, is one of the staple crops farmed in the nation.
Indian wheat is largely a soft/medium-hard, medium protein, white bread wheat, somewhat similar to U.S. hard white wheat.
Durum wheat, often known as pasta wheat or macaroni wheat is also one of the best quality wheat varieties in India.
Climate requirement:
wheat requires a combination of factors including cool climate with moderate rainfall, flat and well drained plain areas.
Fertile friable loam and heavy inputs in the form of irrigation, HYV seeds, fertilizers and mechanization.
Areas of Cultivation:
Major wheat growing states in India are Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Gujarat.
Punjab is called as the Wheat Bowl of India emerged as the biggest wheat producer state in 2021.
Production:
India is the second-largest producer of wheat after China with a share of around 14.14 per cent of the world’s total production in 2020.
China, India, and Russia are the three largest individual wheat producers in the world, accounting for about 41% of the world’s total wheat production.
India’s wheat exports are mainly to neighboring countries with Bangladesh having the largest share of more than 54 per cent in both volume and value terms in 2020-21.
