Indian farmers have ramped up planting of winter crops including wheat, rapeseed and chickpea, putting the country on track for record acreage as abundant soil moisture enables cultivation even in typically rainfed areas that often remain fallow.

The higher planting is expected to help the world’s second-largest wheat producer boost output, ease local prices, and potentially allow New Delhi to permit limited exports of wheat flour. Increased rapeseed production could also help the world’s biggest vegetable oil importer reduce its overseas purchases.

Abundant monsoon rainfall this year improved soil moisture and boosted reservoir levels, which in turn is enabling farmers to expand the area under winter crops, said Harish Galipelli, director of ILA Commodities Pvt Ltd.

Indian farmers have so far planted winter-sown crops on 47.9 million hectares since sowing began on October 1, up 6.1% from a year ago, data from the farm ministry showed.

Wheat was planted on 24.14 million hectares, up 10.8% from a year earlier, while paddy area rose 11.4% to 1 million hectares, the data showed.

India’s wheat is mainly produced in the northern states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and the central state of Madhya Pradesh.

India’s key wheat-growing north-western region was inundated with 161% more rainfall than average in October, contributing to the country’s overall 49% surplus in the month.

Rapeseed plantings reached 8 million hectares, up 4.5% from last year, and chickpea sowing increased 3.5% to 7.8 million hectares.

Rapeseed is the main winter-sown oilseed in India, which fulfils nearly two-thirds of its demand through overseas purchases of palm oil, soyoil, and sunflower oil, primarily from Indonesia, Malaysia, Argentina, Brazil, Russia, and Ukraine.

“If weather stays supportive, especially from mid-January to mid-March, crop yields could improve this year,” said Ashwini Bansod, vice president for commodities research at Phillip Capital India, a Mumbai-based brokerage.

The La Niña weather pattern, historically linked to colder-than-normal winters across northern India, is likely to persist from December through February, according to India Meteorological Department.

India banned wheat exports in 2022, extending the prohibition as extreme heat shrivelled crops again in 2023.
Source: Reuters