As owners of flour mills await the Centre’s decision to liquidate part of its wheat inventories to cool atta (flour) prices, crop sowing for the marketing season that will start from April reached a new high of 34.11 million hectares during the week ended January 20.
 
This is 12 per cent more than the normal area and among the highest in recent years.
 
The normal area is the average of the previous five years.
 
But, compared to 2022, wheat acreage is just 0.38 per cent higher.
 
With the sowing of rabi crops almost over in most parts of the country, there is very little chance of any significant rise in area now.
 
The wheat crop sown early will start hitting the market in late February in Gujarat, with Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to follow.
 
Meanwhile, sources said a final call on the amount of wheat the Centre planned to liquidate from its stocks would be taken