The cumulative area for all rabi crops stood 6.17% lower than last year at 414.29 lakh hectare (lh) as on December 7 2018. Apart from wheat, all other crop categories have reported lower acreage as compared to the same period last year. The area under wheat cultivation stood at 194.49 lh, which is up around 2% over the last year.

However, the acreage under Coarse cereals witnessed a massive tumble of 26% with area dropping to to 33 lh. Maize area dropped 14.50% while Barley acreage fell nearly 6%. Oilseeds, which reported better acreage till last week, have for the first time slipped to below that in the previous rabi season this year. Acreage under total oilseeds stood at 65.45 lh, recording a drop of 2.80% over year.

The pulses acreage also stayed lower with the overall area falling by 10.33% at 113.69 lh. Chana or Gram, the main rabi pulses crop, reported 13% shortfall with the area dropping to 77.27 lh. Acreage under rabi rice also saw a heavy decline of 36%.