Even as the window for sowing winter crops is set to close by the end of the year, planting of wheat and oilseeds are lower compared with the normal area, farm ministry data showed.

The silver lining is a marginally higher sowing of pulses compared with last year; rising prices of lentils caused much heartburn for consumers in the past months.

Data on rabi sowing shows that till 23 December, crops have been planted in an area spanning 52 million hectares, 6.5% lower than the normal area of 55.6 million hectares sown by this time of the year. The main winter crop of wheat has been sown in 25.9 million hectares so far, 7% lower than the normal area of 27.9 million hectares.

While the seasonal area under the wheat crop is 30 million hectares, together with pulses, oilseeds and coarse grains, the total rabi area is about 63 million hectares. Planting of winter crops begins by October and harvest begins from January.

Lower plantings of wheat is due to a dry winter, which reduced moisture content in the soil. Winter crops are sown with the residual moisture in the soil after kharif crops are harvested, and dry soil and a delayed onset of winter has meant lower sowing.

While the June to September south-west monsoon recorded a deficit of 14% with as many as 10 states declaring a drought, sowing of winter crops were also affected due to a deficient north-east monsoon, particularly in northern and central India.

Data from the India Meteorological Department shows the October to December north-east monsoon recorded a deficit of 20% till 23 December. Major wheat-growing states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab recorded scanty rainfall with deficits of more than 60% compared with the average.

Late planting of wheat is likely to affect yields and lower production this year, the second consecutive year of meagre harvest. The unseasonal rains just ahead of the spring harvest in March and April led to a 7% dip in wheat production in 2014-15 compared with the previous year.

Data for other crops sown during the winter shows that oilseeds have been planted in 6.9 million hectares so far, nearly 12% lower than the normal area of 7.9 million hectares sown by this time of the year.

The only good news is the marginally higher planting of pulses at 12.6 million hectares compared with last year’s 12.5 million hectares by this time.

However, sowing is still lower by 4.4% compared with the normal area of 13.1 million hectares.

The area under coarse cereals like jowar, bajra and maize so far is marginally higher at 5.3 million hectares compared with the normal area of 5.2 million hectares. When compared with the planting area by this time last year, the area under coarse cereals is higher by more than 10%.

A lower spring harvest could mean the fourth consecutive crop failure for farmers, who were battered by two successive droughts, and a poor spring harvest earlier this year.