Spurt in gram planting pushes up rabi area by 10%
Better market prices commanded by gram has pushed up area under chana dal by over 30 per cent as rabi sowing covered 265 lakh hectares (lha), 10 per cent more than nearly 242 lha planted in the corresponding week last year, data released by the Agriculture Ministry showed on Friday.
Farmers have planted gram over 57 lha (44 lha), while the area under wheat remained marginally higher at 97 lha, even though Madhya Pradesh and Punjab reported an increase of 5.4 lha and 2.5 lha, respectively as compared to same period in the previous rabi season.
117 mills in Maharashtra begin sugar crushing; wait for export and buffer stock subsidy
As on November 15, 117 sugar mills have started crushing operations, while last year the season commenced in th fourth week of November due to drought and lesser cultivable area.
By November 15, Maharashtra mills had produced 5.65 lakh tonnes of sugar. However, mills are not sure of what they will do with excess sugar production. Policy decisions regarding the export policy along with the export subsidy for the sugar year 2020-21, and the creation of buffer stock along with buffer subsidy, are still awaited from the centre. During the last season 2019-20, about two lakh tonnes of sugar had already been shipped out for exports on the corresponding date.
Government mulls advancing 20% ethanol blending target
The Centre, which is trying to create an additional 468-crore litre ethanol capacities through loans for setting up distilleries, may advance the deadline for blending 20 per cent biofuel in petrol from the earlier announced 2030.
“The government had earlier fixed a target of 10 per cent ethanol blending by 2022 and 20 per cent by 2030 but now the government is preparing a plan to prepone achievement of 20 per cent target,” an official release said on Friday.
