The Ministry of Agriculture on Sunday claimed that 67 per cent of wheat crop has been harvested. The Ministry claimed that there was a minimal or no disruption in the harvesting rabi crop and sowing of summer crop despite the nationwide lockdown due to coronavirus.

On the other hand, farmers from several states have claimed that they are finding difficult to harvest wheat crops due to shortage of labours and machinery stucked in states like Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.  According to farmers, the exemption given to farm sectors and agri machineries by the Home Ministry, have not reached the local authorites that’s why they have not allowed  the movement of farm machineries.

According to agriculture ministry, of the rabi crop harvesting, out of total wheat sown in 310 lakh hectares, 63-67 percent has already been harvested in the country.  “State-wise harvesting has also increased and reached 90-95% in Madhya Pradesh, 80-85% in Rajasthan, 60-65% in Uttar Pradesh, 30-35% in Haryana and 10-15% in Punjab. Harvesting is in peak in Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh and is likely to be completed by the end of April, the ministry said. Punjab has deployed 18000 combines and Haryana has deployed 5000 combines for harvesting and threshing.  Rabi rice sown in 28 lakh hectares in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura and West Bengal is in the initial stages of harvesting since the grain is still in the filling stage and harvesting times would vary, it said.

Of the pulses sown in 161 lakh hectare, harvesting has been completed for gram, lentil, urad, moong and field pea. For sugarcane, out of the total sown in 54.29 lakh ha, harvesting has been completed in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Punjab. For the states of Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Haryana and Uttarakhand, 92-98 per cent harvesting has been completed. In Uttar Pradesh, 75-80 per cent has been completed and this will continue till mid May 2020.

Amongst the oilseed crops, Rapeseed Mustard sown in 69 lakh ha has been harvested in the states of Rajasthan, UP, MP, Haryana, WB, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Punjab, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and UT of J&K.

Groundnut sown in 4.7 lakh ha, has been harvested to the tune of 85-90 per cent.

While Rabi crops are being harvested, farmers have started sowing summer crops which includes pulses, coarse cereals, nutri-cereals and oilseeds.

“Summer crop sowing is 36 per cent higher over corresponding period last year as on April 17. The total summer crop area has increased to 52.78 lakh hectares from 38.64 lakh hectares as compared to the the corresponding period a year ago. The area coverage under pulses, coarse cereals, nutria-cereals and oilseeds has increased to 20.05 lakh hectare from 14.79 lakh hectare as compared to last year during the corresponding period,” the Ministry said.